Native Mineral Resources Holdings Limited (ASX: NMR) has secured a Queensland Government Collaborative Exploration Initiative (CEI) grant.
NMR will receive grant funding of $200,000 to support the completion of a 30,349-line kilometre fixed-wing magnetic and radiometric survey.
The survey will be completed in collaboration with project partners Prophet Resources and professional geophysical acquisition company MagSpec Airborne Surveys Pty Ltd.
“We are delighted to have secured this grant from the Queensland Government. The funding will allow the team to gather the data required to efficiently and precisely prioritise the many targets already defined at our Palmerville Project area,” Managing Director, Blake Cannavo, said.
“This is a great boost for NMR as it not only helps increase our knowledge of the geology in the region, but it also demonstrates a commitment from the Queensland Government to help companies find the critical metals required for the transition to a greener, healthier and more environmentally sustainable economy.
“Airborne magnetics is a great way to increase targeting success, reduce NMR’s on-ground impact and help point our geologists to the best areas in the field for discovery. The geophysics will be the next critical piece of information on top of our growing number of positive sample results and targeting.”
Mr Cannavo said the primary, and arguably the most important, geophysical dataset in any exploration companies’ exploration toolbox is high-resolution magnetic data. Airborne magnetic and radiometric data is a standard technique used across the industry and has been the foundation dataset for many new deposit discoveries.
The mineral-rich, but discovery-poor northern Chillagoe Formation suffers from very low-resolution 400m line spacing magnetic data in what is a lithologically and structurally complex zone with exceptional potential for one or even multiple copper deposit discoveries.
Due to the geological complexity of the northern Chillagoe Formation, there is a desperate need for high-resolution geophysics to help make sound geological interpretations about the geological controls and location of mineralisation relative to the surrounding geology.
The proposed airborne magnetic and radiometric survey results will assist NMR and other exploration companies within the survey window to “virtually see” through the barriers inhibiting current exploration including thick vegetation, shallow rock cover and difficult-to-access terrain.
The resulting dataset will be used to help observe, in more detail and continuity than ever before, the sub-surface structure and intrusion potential of the belt.
The planned 30,349-line kilometre magnetic and radiometric survey will also add significant volume of critical data to QLD’s growing digital database which in turn will help promote discovery now and into the future.
Survey location and background
The Palmerville-North Chillagoe Project lies in the North-eastern Queensland mineral province and is a strategic area for new mineral deposit discoveries. The Project is NMR’s principal Copper exploration asset and covers a near continuous strike length of 130km over an area of ~1,820km2 centred 200km west-northwest of Cairns in North Queensland.
The Magnetic survey will cover almost the entire area of NMR’s Palmerville Copper-Gold exploration project.
For further information please visit: https://nmresources.com.au/
