Emmerson Resources to continue exploration drilling at Tennant Creek

Emmerson Resources (ASX: ERM) has reported progress on several fronts during the quarter including a A$7.5M exploration budget approved for 2010 in the Tennant Creek Mineral Field (TCMF), solely funded by Ivanhoe Australia.

Other highlights include several additional Tier 1 (+1.0Moz gold equivalent) targets being identified and existing targets refined by advanced geological-geophysical and geochemical techniques ahead of the 2010 field season.

A strong pipeline of Tier 1 targets are to be systematically drill tested during the 2010 field season with significant RAB geochemistry defined at the Voltan target, including 8m @ 0.56g/t gold from 32m, coincident with copper and bismuth anomalism.

Initial RAB drilling commenced in March at the Voltan target following the Northern Territory wet season.

Additional ground gravity and induced polarisation (IP) geophysical data was collected over selected target areas to assist with target refinement ahead of deeper diamond drilling.

The company has a strong cash position of circa $12.0 million with no debt at quarter-end which, based on current projections, will be maintained.

The outlook for the April quarter includes 25,000m of RAB geochemical drilling commenced subsequent to the end of the Quarter and will continue on various project areas including Voltan, Pinnacles North, Tinto and numerous other targets within the TCMF.

This drilling is aimed at identifying leakage of gold, copper and bismuth (plus other pathfinder elements) in the subsurface above previously defined geophysical and geological targets.

Also drilling of circa 17,000m of RC and 6,000m of Diamond Drilling is scheduled to commence in late April, solely funded by Ivanhoe Australia.

Key exploration activity during the March Quarter

Due to the prolonged Northern Territory wet season, the focus of activity during the Quarter was on the consolidation of results from the 2009 exploration field season. This work has provided clear direction for the 2010 season.

As indicated above, significant advances have been made in the processing of the company's new geophysical data, which integrated with our new geological concepts has provided some new insights into the undercover potential within the tenement package.

Whilst this is a “work in progress” the company has already updated its prospectivity ranking matrix to reflect these changes and to ensure that exploration expenditures are commensurate with the quality (i.e. rank) of the specific projects.

Exploration update

Voltan target (previously reported as Golden Slipper Regional RAB drilling)

In December 2009, a large undercover regional program comprising 203 angled reconnaissance RAB drill holes (GSR001 – GSR203) was completed at the Voltan target.

This program was designed to sample beneath the shallow cover and screen underlying geophysical anomalies  for leakage of gold, copper, silver and bismuth which may reflect deeper seated mineralisation.

All assay results have now been returned with several geochemically-significant results received. Geochemical results from the program returned a number of significant multi-element anomalies, as summarised below:

- one large anomaly with maximum results of 0.64g/t Au, 1163ppm Cu and 48ppm Bi remains open to the SW, two parallel anomalies one to the east and another to the west are also evident;

- narrow continuous Cu/Au/Bi anomalism exists in the south (Anomaly C) and also in the northern extent of current drilling (Anomaly A);

- best RAB drilling intercepts were returned from a pair of scissor holes (GSR202 & GSR203) into outcropping jasper-rich hematite ironstone in the central grid. Results include 8m @ 0.56g/t Au and 0.11% Cu from 32m.

In-fill and extensional RAB drilling commenced in late March to close off the geochemical anomalies and two deep stratigraphic diamond drill holes have now been designed to provide early geological information beneath one of these anomalies.

Rising Star Project

This large (3km x 1km) area, located within Emmerson’s Northern Project Area, was recognised as a compelling Tier 1 target based on historical, district-scale high-grade copper and gold mineralisation.

This combined with the new gravity data collected by Emmerson in late 2008 suggested excellent potential for a new style of predominantly hematite hosted copper-gold mineralisation, intimately associated with intrusions and controlled by major structural corridors.

On this basis, three trial lines of Induced Polarisation (IP) and Audiomagnetotelluric (AMT) geophysics were completed in mid-2009, providing targets for three wide-spaced stratigraphic diamond drill holes.

Early results from drill hole RSDD001 returned an intersection of 1.9m @ 6.49% Cu from 201.2m incl. 0.6m @ 18.3% Cu.

Pinnacles North Target – Diamond Drilling

Results have been returned for diamond drill holes PNDD024 and PNDD026 completed in December 2009.

Hole PNDD024 was drilled down-dip of diamond drill hole PNDD023, which intersected a bonanza gold intersection of 2m @ 50.6 g/t Au from 156m (see Figure 5).

PNDD024 was drilled to test for mineralisation immediately down plunge however it appears that the dip direction changes with depth rendering this hole ineffective.

Scissor hole PNDD026 was then drilled from south to north based on the results from PNDD023 and intersected strong dolomite, talc-chlorite-magnetite alteration with 2.4m@ 0.2g/t gold, 1.2g/t silver and 0.11% copper – again very consistent with the alteration and metals encountered in PNDD023 suggesting both holes have intersected the “spent fluids” above the main mineralised system.

Interestingly, down hole 3-component magnetic probing of PNDD026 indicates an “offhole” magnetic body (ironstone) approximately 150m to the north which is coincident to the main gravity anomaly seen at Pinnacles North.

Thus Emmerson plans to re-enter and extend PNDD026 for an additional 250m to test both the modelled magnetic off-hole anomaly and also the coincident gravity anomaly.

Pinnacles North Target – RAB Drilling Additional shallow RAB geochemical holes were drilled (PNRB313 – PNRB386) during November 2009 targeting a parallel gravity ridge to the south of the known Pinnacles North ironstone.

A lead-copper-silver-bismuth-zinc geochemical trend has now been defined over a 500m strike and parallel to the above Pinnacles North mineralisation. This anomaly is still open to the south and will be further drill tested with deeper RAB or RC in the June quarter.