Impact Minerals (ASX:IPT) has identified new drill targets along the eastern, upper contact of the Silica Hill Rhyolite within its 100% owned Commonwealth Project in New South Wales.
Until now, Impact’s exploration has been mostly focussed at the Main Shaft-Commonwealth South-Silica Hill prospects up to one kilometre away on the lower, western contact of the Silica Hill Rhyolite and the underlying thinner Commonwealth Rhyolite.
Here, Impact has discovered high grade gold-silver-base metal mineralisation interpreted to be part of a so-called gold-rich volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) system.
However, certain features within these rhyolites and the associated mineralisation suggest that the area explored to date could be part of a much larger and prospective high grade feeder zone that extends for one kilometre north east through the Silica Hill Rhyolite up to its eastern upper contact with overlying volcanic rocks.
In addition, the position where the interpreted feeder zone intersects the upper contact is an excellent conceptual target for further gold-rich VMS mineralisation.
Drilling at Silica Hill has discovered gold and silver grading up to 3,600 g/t silver and 23 g/t gold over an area of 200 metres by 100 metres down to a depth of 120 metres below surface.
It has shown strong similarities to the Eskay Creek deposit in Canada, which hosts 4 million ounces of gold and 150 million ounces of silver.
Results of a soil geochemistry survey over the chargeability and conductivity anomalies are pending
Summary of targets
Impact has identified a significant number of follow up drill targets in and around the general Commonwealth-Silica Hill area.
These include:
- Main Shaft: a prominent conductor has been identified at depth below the massive sulphide;
- Main Shaft North: a prominent conductor with coincident copper-lead-zinc-in-soil anomalies located 200 metres north of Main Shaft;
- Silica Hill: extensive and strong IP chargeability anomalies with coincident strong gold-silver-in-soil anomalies covering about one square kilometre; and
- Silica Hill East: several prominent conductors, very strong IP chargeability anomalies and extensive soil geochemistry anomalies of pathfinder metals as well as gold and silver.