Miramar Resources Ltd (ASX:M2R) has kicked off a diamond drilling campaign at the 100%-owned Whaleshark Project in Western Australia's Ashburton region.
Exploration efforts, targeting iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG) mineralisation beneath younger sediments of the Northern Carnarvon Basin, have been backed by high-priority bedrock IOCG drill targets.
The drilling campaign, initially of two to three holes for a total of 1,000 metres, has received a boost from the Western Australian Government's Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS), with Miramar securing up to A$180,000 in funding.
Targets identified
The Whaleshark Project was acquired as part of the company’s initial public offering in 2020.
Since the tenement's grant in early 2021, Miramar has worked hard to define high-priority bedrock IOCG drill targets, including in the 'neck' of the Whaleshark granite, comprising a combination of:
- Mobile metal ion surface geochemical anomalism;
- A discrete gravity anomaly crosscut by a northwest-trending structure;
- Strongly elevated copper, cobalt, gold, silver and rare earth element (REE) results in 'interface' aircore drilling; and
- REE signatures consistent with published data from the Prominent Hill IOCG deposit.
Looking for success
Miramar executive chairman Allan Kelly believes Whaleshark has the potential to host a substantial IOCG deposit akin to renowned mines like Ernest Henry, Carrapateena, Prominent Hill or the recently discovered Oak Dam West deposit.
“Since commencing work at Whaleshark in mid-2021, we have defined a number of large, shallow and robust IOCG targets, which have been further validated by the recent successful EIS application,” Kelly said.
“IOCG deposits can be very large and potentially very valuable meaning exploration success at Whaleshark would have a significant positive impact on our company.
“We are, therefore, very excited to be drilling again at Whaleshark.”