Red River Resources Limited's (ASX:RVR) drone magnetics and induced polarisation survey at the Orient Project near Herberton in North Queensland has identified multiple large silver-indium targets.
Broadly, the surveys aimed to map and target mineralised structures at Orient beyond those already known to the company, improving targeting for future drilling at the polymetallic asset.
Red River’s Orient silver-indium project hosts the Orient West and Orient East silver-lead-zinc-indium deposits. Promisingly, it is highly prospective for additional high-grade deposits along strike and down dip.
Orient was one of two polymetallic projects granted to Red River last year that host the highest grade known indium deposits in Australia.
The company aims to add to its multi-project, multi-commodity strategy that includes base metal operations at Thalanga in north Queensland and gold operations at Hillgrove in northern NSW.
Survey says
To explore the ground at Orient, the ASX-listed explorer recently conducted a 14-square-kilometre drone magnetic survey and six lines of induced polarisation (IP) geophysical surveying at the Orient mining camp over exploration mining permit 27223.
Promisingly, surveying unveiled multiple large targets, including one close to historical drill hole EO3 at Orient East, which intersected a wide zone of mineralisation.
This returned 75 metres at 38 g/t silver from 15 metres downhole to end of hole, including 4 metres at 154 g/t silver, 20 g/t indium, 3.3% lead & 2.2% zinc from 36 metres downhole.
Red River’s magnetic survey and three of the IP survey lines, which were conducted in May 2021, were funded using a Queensland Geological Survey Collaborative Exploration Initiative (CEI) grant awarded to the company in August 2020.
Overall, Red River said the two techniques were successful in identifying the structures and IP responses of known mineralisation and extensions to the structures that will be further assessed for additional mineralisation.
Interestingly, a magnetic feature discovered in the Bluewater Rhyolite formation and its corresponding IP chargeability features represent a new target style for the area.
Orient West and Orient East
Surveying has indicated the mineralisation at Orient West follows northeast-striking magnetic lows along the boundary of the Halpin Granite and Bluewater Rhyolite formations.
Meanwhile, the company’s drone magnetics data indicates lineations extend a further 1.6 kilometres to the deposit’s northeast.
Overall, the prospective structural setting, anomalous soils and rock chip samples and presence of small workings, make this a high priority target for Red River.
As it worked over the Orient East and the Nannum Amalgamated regions, surveying revealed a zone of complex magnetic lineations and probable structures.
This indicates the potential for a larger zone of stockwork-style mineralisation than currently shown by the existing workings.