Australian Mines (ASX:AUZ) is now fully funded for its highly anticipated drill program at its Doolgunna-Marymia in Western Australia that could discover the next Degrussa-style deposit.
The company raised $525,000 through a placement of 105 million shares priced at $0.005 to professional and sophisticated investors.
Doolgunna-Marymia project covers more than 1,300 square kilometres and immediately adjoins Sandfire Resources' (ASX:SFR) Doolgunna project area, which hosts their DeGrussa Copper-Gold Mine.
Last month, the Doolgunna region’s status as an emerging VMS province hosting multiple clusters of copper-gold ore bodies was confirmed after Sandfire intersected a wide zone of massive copper sulphide (16.5 metres grading 18.9% copper and 2.1 grams per tonne gold from 409.5 metres) at its Monty prospect.
Australian Mines will carry out drilling at the Burton prospect, where a single hole previously intersected 21 metres at 0.05% copper and 0.21% zinc from 193 metres, as well as the advanced Little Well copper prospect that is just 3 kilometres from Sandfire’s Thaduna Copper Mine.
This exploration program is expected to start in the coming weeks.
Benjamin Bell, managing director, commented:
“The Doolgunna region of Western Australia is emerging as a significant VMS copper-gold province with the potential to host multiple clusters of ore bodies across the region.
“Australian Mines, with a ground holding that now exceeds 1,300 square kilometres, has a substantial footprint in this region.
“The occurrence of outcropping copper mineralisation at the Company’s Little Well prospect together with the presence of copper anomalism near the Burton bedrock conductor suggests the company’s Doolgunna-Marymia project has the potential to host possible repetitions of the DeGrussa and Monty copper-gold mineralisation.
“Following the recent completed share placement, which raised $525,000 before costs, Australian Mines’ upcoming field campaign, which includes RC drilling and down hole surveying of its priority copper targets, remains fully funded.”
About 1,000 metres of drilling will be carried out at Burton and Little Well. This may be extended if the results are encouraging.
Drilling Targets
Australian Mines is presently finalising the necessary preparations to undertake a reverse circulation drill program and down hole electromagnetic survey over the primary source of the buried conductor at its Burton prospect this quarter.
It previously reported that an electromagnetic survey completed over Burton successfully detected a late-time bedrock conductor beneath a laterally extensive soil anomaly and copper oxide mineralisation (4 metres at 0.23% copper from 18 metres down hole).
Due to tenement boundary constraints that existed at the time of the company’s first-pass reverse circulation drill program at Doolgunna-Marymia, it was only able to drill a single hole on the eastern edge of Burton about 130 metres southeast of the primary target zone.
It intersected 21 metres at 0.05% copper and 0.21% zinc from 193 metres downhole, which is not dissimilar to the assays reported from Talisman Mining’s (ASX:TLM) Monty prospect, which included 49 metres at 0.03% copper from 87 metres and 6 metres at 0.05% copper from 70 metres.
This is located within 150 metres of Sandfire’s subsequent discovery hole.
In addition to Burton, the company also proposes to drill test its advanced Little Well copper prospect, which is located just 3 kilometres from Sandfire’s Thaduna Copper Mine and appears within a similar structural setting as the neighbouring copper deposit.
Surface mapping of the Little Well prospect in 2012 discovered outcropping copper mineralisation over a 200 metre strike length, which subsequently assayed 3.3% copper.
Despite the presence of outcropping copper and its favourable geological setting, no bedrock drilling has been previously been undertaken across the Little Well prospect area, nor has the target zone been covered by an applicable electromagnetic survey.
Analysis
Australian Mines’ $525,000 placement ensures its funded for the coming drilling program.
This will be closely watched given Sandfire Resources’ recently discovery of a potential massive sulphide VMS discovery close to the existing DeGrussa copper-gold deposits.
Doolgunna-Marymia Project could host possible repetitions of the DeGrussa and Monty copper-gold mineralisation.
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