Havilah Resources Ltd’s (ASX:HAV) sampling has returned high-grade cobalt from the Scorpion prospect within the Mutooroo Cobalt District in South Australia, near the mining centre of Broken Hill.
Sampling of pyritic material on old mine dumps and ironstone/gossan outcrops has returned cobalt grades of up to 1,630 ppm, or 0.16%, as well as up to 2.2 g/t gold and appreciable copper.
Several old mine dumps from early 1900s copper prospecting remain at Scorpion, which is 4 kilometres northwest of Havilah’s Mutooroo Copper-Cobalt Project.
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CEO Walter Richards said: “We are very excited about the developing Scorpion prospect and the broader regional exploration potential of the Mutooroo Cobalt District.
“The early indications are looking positive for this cobalt district to present additional discoveries to add to the existing Mutooroo Copper-Cobalt Project resource.”
Havilah has initiated a program of systematically targeting cobalt prospects within its tenements in the cobalt district, including Scorpion, formerly known as Mutooroo West.
Mutooroo Cobalt District regional prospects.
Previous exploration at this prospect included two 1960s drill holes 300 metres apart that returned broad massive sulphide intersections but were not assayed for cobalt or gold.
There has been no previous exploration for cobalt and no drilling at Scorpion for more than 50 years.
Historical mining records
Copper mining was carried out at Mutooroo West in the early 1900s with the 1908 edition of the Record of the Mines of South Australia stating that the main shaft was 170 feet (ft) deep and 60 ft vertical.
It described the deposit as a “very large body of sulphide ore”.
“At 110 ft a crosscut 25 ft W shows the lode to be 20 ft wide, and from this level, 110 tons have been stoped and marketed, stated to contain 3% to 4% copper and 20% to 30% sulphur,” the Record said.
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After more than 100 years of exposure, fresh sulphides, in the form of fine pyrite, are still evident on the mine dumps.
This powdery, partially decomposed material was sampled by Havilah for analysis.
Other material sampled included the outcropping ironstone (gossan) that represents the near-surface (oxidised) expression of the massive sulphide ore body at depth.
One of many prospects
Scorpion is one of many prospects with potential for significant massive and disseminated sulphide hosted cobalt mineralisation in the cobalt district.
Havilah’s tenements southwest of Broken Hill.
All these prospects, including King Brown and Trinity, crop out at the surface, which is why they were found by the early prospectors.
There are also extensive areas of equally prospective geology, based on the aeromagnetics, which are covered by thin soil cover and have not been drill tested.
Drilling application submitted
Havilah has submitted an application to the Department for Energy and Minerals of South Australia to obtain drilling approvals to test these areas with shallow reverse circulation drilling later in 2018.