Chase Mining Corporation Ltd (ASX:CML)’s investee Red Fox Resources (ASX:FXR) Pty Ltd has applied for three exploration permits adjoining the Mt Carol exploration permit in the Selwyn district, 120 kilometres south of Cloncurry in northwest Queensland.
Mt Carol exploration permit (EPM26571) and the new application areas are in a highly prospective zone stretching from an area 10 kilometres southeast of the Selwyn, Mt Dore/Merlin and Mt Elliott deposits, to an area 8 kilometres north of the operating Osbourne copper and gold mine.
Chase has a 40% stake in Red Fox and these applications would increase the latter’s holdings in the area to 331.5 square kilometres from 108 square kilometres.
Red Fox expects the EPM applications to be granted in early 2022 when on ground assessments can begin.
Application areas
Within the application areas, only four prospects have been the subject of drilling by previous explorers which include SCG41, SCG45, Bustard Flat and Jasper Ridge.
Two drill holes were drilled at Bustard Flat by BHP to test a strong conductor coincident with a gravity low, interpreted to be a possible kimberlite.
At Jasper Ridge prospect, drilling in the 1980s by CSR returned encouraging mineralised zones with anomalous copper (up to 6.7%), lead (up to 2.47%), zinc (up to 1.53%), silver (up to 300 g/t) and cobalt (up to 1950 ppm) values.
At the southern end of the fold, Minotaur Exploration Ltd (ASX:MEP) defined the Buzzard prospect where ground EM has identified and modelled conductors, but no drilling has yet been undertaken.
Importantly, a compilation of the data on the application areas is continuing, with initial work showing several known targets associated with the prospective horizon including untested EM anomalies, untested geochemistry and outcropping gossanous zones with only shallow historical drilling.
: New EPM applications, Selwyn area, showing current EPM 26571 Mt Carol (blue) and application areas EPMa 28006 (black), EPMa 28007 (green) and EPMa 28051 (dark red).
Mt Carol permit
EPM26571 contains a series of targets with highly anomalous copper, lead, zinc and cobalt in soils, rocks and gossans at the Mt Ulo/Perisher prospects.
The host sequence of black shales extends south-southwest from the Mt Carol area for about 40 kilometres that is the subject of a large portion of new application areas.
The prospective black shale horizon is highlighted as a conductive zone in aerial electromagnetic (AEM) data which show that this contact extends through the application areas and appears to close off in a folded nose at the Buzzard prospect within EPMa 28051.