Tempest Minerals Ltd (ASX:TEM) (ASX:TEM) has identified further highly prospective iron-rich targets at its Euro Project in the Yalgoo Region of Western Australia.
The company’s mapping this month has identified an additional 45 outcrops of similar iron-rich geology in the south and central parts of the Euro Project, extending the overall potential strike length to more than 20 kilometres.
Ongoing fieldwork continues to uncover geology prospective for gold, base metals and iron ore in an environment known for world-class deposits, including four major mining projects within 5 kilometres.
Simplified geological map of the Euro Project with recently mapped iron occurrences in brown.
Large exploration portfolio
Tempest’s Euro Project comprises more than 176 square kilometres of wholly-owned tenements and forms part of its exploration portfolio in the southern Yalgoo Greenstone belt.
The project is wedged between four current operations that share the same geology with Euro - Angang Steel Company Ltd’s Karara Iron Ore Mine, Mount Gibson Iron (ASX:MGX) Ore Ltd’s Shine Iron Ore Project, Tungsten Mining (ASX:TGN) NL’s Mt Mulgine Project and Silver Lake Resources Ltd’s Rothsay Gold Project.
Parts of the project were explored in the 1990s and early 2000s for gold and iron ore, with drilling occurring in the north of the project area encountering gold mineralisation
This was not considered a priority at the time and was not followed up due to depressed metal prices.
Iron-rich stratigraphy
Euro project’s legacy mapping shows intercalated layers of ultramafic, mafic and felsic rocks within a heavily folded and sheared structural regime.
Tempest recently reported the presence of iron-bearing formations in the north of the Euro Project that exhibited banded textures consistent with those found at nearby mining operations.
Fieldwork in July included geological mapping with soil and rock samples collected in wide-spaced traverses in the central and southern portions of the project.
This has further outlined numerous outcrops of iron-rich stratigraphy that occur in the central portion and particularly in the southern segment where more than 45 outcrops were mapped over a distance of more than 8 kilometres.
Skarn-like alteration
Tempest has collected 319 soil and rock samples with wide-spaced traverses and these have been submitted for laboratory analysis with surface sampling and mapping to resume next month.
In addition, initial assay results for surface sampling are expected in September with fieldwork including Native Title surveys to start in August,
Preliminary observations of iron enrichment and hydrothermal mineralogy observed by field geologists have been noted in geological mapping as potentially representing skarn-like alteration.
Skarn is a style of mineralisation commonly associated with large-scale deposits of iron, gold and tungsten where granitoids come in contact with favourable geological units.
Several locations in the Yalgoo region, including the highly prospective Mt Mulgine project, have exhibited this kind of mineralisation.
- Ephrems Joseph