Emmerson Resources Ltd (ASX:ERM) has begun a 2500-metre drill program at the high-grade Edna Beryl gold mine and Hermitage gold-copper prospect within the Tennant Creek Project in the Northern Territory.
Drilling at the previous Edna Beryl operation is aimed at extending the high-grade gold in the shallow oxide zone, including testing water flow ahead of the potential resumption of mining.
Emmerson’s maiden drill program at Hermitage is to test for extensions to historical high-grade gold and copper mineralisation.
Map of the Emmerson Tennant Creek Project.
“Exciting copper-gold projects”
Emmerson managing director Rob Bills said: “Emmerson continues to unlock a number of exciting copper-gold projects in the northern area of its Tennant Creek project.
“The most advanced of these is the Edna Beryl gold mine which has excellent potential for extending the high-grade mineralisation in both the shallow oxide and deeper primary gold zones.
“The host to these exceptionally high grades of gold occurs within four sub-parallel ironstones, of which only two have been extensively drill tested.”
Drilling at Edna Beryl
Visible gold in the oxide-transition zone associated with hematite (grey colour) from the 90m level drive.
Edna Beryl comprises a high-grade underground gold mine with mineralisation contained in at least four subparallel ironstones that occur within a 200-metre wide, east-west trending shear zone with mostly hematite ironstones that host very high-grade gold and are structurally controlled, both along strike and down plunge.
Surface drilling by Emmerson has indicated the potential for high-grade, primary gold at depth, however, the focus for the current reverse circulation (RC) drill program is testing for continuity between the Edna Beryl Mine and historic workings at Edna Beryl West, within ironstones one and three.
Edna Beryl is within the Northern Project Area (NPA) of Emmerson’s Tennant Creek project and is excluded from the joint venture area with TCMG.
It last operated from 2018-2021 under a mining and processing agreement (Tribute Agreement MLC 705) with TRL Tennant Creek Pty Ltd (TRL) whereby Emmerson retained the underlying Mining Lease and received a free carried, 12% gold production tribute payment and licensed the rights and costs of mining and processing to TRL.
Looking ahead, mining and processing options for Edna Beryl high-grade ore are under review following the termination of the previous mining, processing and mine operator agreements.
Plan view of the planned collar and drill traces of holes at Edna Beryl.
“Resumption of mining”
Bills adds: “Phase 1 of this drill program will focus on extending the high-grade oxide ores and test for extensions to previous drill hole EBWRC041 of 5 metres at 251 g/t gold.
“Emmerson is reviewing options for the resumption of mining at Edna Beryl following the termination of the mining, processing and mine operatorship agreements.
“This provides an opportunity to reset priorities across the entire northern corridor where there is excellent potential for both extensions to existing prospects and further discoveries, utilising new detection technologies such as the drone, ultra-high-resolution magnetics.”
Plan view of the planned collar and drill traces of holes at Hermitage.
Maiden drill program at Hermitage
Hermitage is one of a cluster of prospects that occurs within the northern corridor, and which encompass North Star, Jasper Hills, Katherine Star and Northern Star within ML 30177 and regionally also Rising Sun, Marathon, Kepler, Troy, Thrace and Macedon.
The prospect has not seen any systematic, modern exploration since the 1990s, with this first phase of RC drilling aimed at testing for extensions to the historic intersections of 9 metres at 12.78 g/t gold including 3 metres at 34.63 g/t gold from 176 metres in drill hole HEGD12 and 29 metres at 3.86 g/t gold and 3.33% copper from 197 metres in HEGD05.
Bills adds: “The maiden drill program at Hermitage is part of a larger regional program.
“Historical results from drilling indicate high-grade gold and copper with recorded intersections of 9 metres at 12.78 g/t gold including 3 metres at 34.63 g/t gold from 176 metres in drill hole HEGD12, plus 29 metres at 3.86 g/t gold and 3.33% copper from 197 metres in HEGD051”
Drone magnetic surveys
Emmerson (in partnership with TCMG) is deploying new detection technologies such as ultra-high resolution drone magnetic surveys to better define subtle magnetic anomalies – typically early magnetite ironstones that have been overprinted by the hematite-bearing mineralised fluids, as evidenced at previous discoveries at Mauretania, Edna Beryl and Goanna.
The resolution of this drone survey is far superior to historic, fixed-wing magnetic surveys due to the drone being able to fly 15 metres above the ground and on 10-metre spaced lines.
Promisingly, this technology is likely to have similar utility in the Northern Corridor and has the potential to delineate new gold and copper discoveries.