Parkway Minerals NL’s (ASX:PWN) initial analysis has indicated the characteristics of a paleo-valley development at its Lake Barlee sulphate of potash project in the mid-west region of Western Australia.
The Lake Barlee Project comprises four granted exploration licences and eight pending titles covering an area of circa 1956 square kilometres, which is almost the entire surface area of Lake Barlee.
Following the grant of key exploration licences, and a review of available information, the company has commenced passive seismic survey across the target areas defined for the proof of concept drilling.
The aim of the geophysical survey will be to map the basement to identify potential channel structures which will be the target for the drill testing.
Interestingly, data from the first traverse has been partially analysed and indicates two areas where the depth of the lake drops from circa 25 metres to 75+ metres, displaying the characteristics of a paleo-valley development.
Assuming final analysis confirms this interpretation, these valleys will be the target of the drilling planned to commence shortly.
Patrick McManus, managing director, commented: ”The identification of deeper paleovalleys is an important step for this project.
“If the valleys are filled with coarser material, they will provide a much easier extraction medium than the typical lake muds, reducing extraction costs.”
Last month, Parkway secured commitments to raise $850,000 via a placement of shares to new and existing shareholders at $0.01 each.
The new share placement was undertaken to fund the exploration program planned for the next 12 months at Lake Barlee.
Parkway’s shares were last trading 10% higher intra-day, at $0.011.