Emmerson Resources Ltd (ASX:ERM) has been awarded three co-funding grants through the Northern Territory Geological Survey’s (NTGS) Geophysics and Drilling Collaborations (GDC) program.
The grants are for Emmerson projects including:
- Golden Forty South – brownfields remanence and petrophysics targeting;
- Golden Forty East – brownfields diamond drilling; and
- High-Definition Magnetic Drone Survey – brownfields targeting.
The GDC is a competitive grants program funded by the Northern Territory (NT) Government’s $9.5 million per annum Resourcing the Territory initiative. It allocates up to $3 million to co-fund projects that address geoscientific knowledge gaps, advance exploration activity, and support the discovery and development of resources in the Territory.
“The awarding of three out of three co-funding grants is testament to Emmerson’s science-based approach to exploration. Plus, recognition that further discoveries in the TCMF will benefit many other explorers and stakeholders – in what is an emerging exploration hotspot,” Emmerson managing director Rob Bills said.
“We applaud the NT Government on this GDC initiative and, more specifically, for supporting Emmerson Resources in its quest to unlock further gold-copper-cobalt discoveries at Tennant Creek through utilising new technology and ideas.”
Emmerson sees its March 2022 discovery drill hole at Hermitage (116 metres at 3.4% copper and 0.88g/t gold in drill hole HERC003) as testament to the potential of applying new technology and ideas to reinvigorate discovery across the Tennant Creek Mineral Field (TCMF) – thus meeting the grant criteria.
All three high impact programs will get underway shortly and be of direct benefit to advancing our understanding of these high-grade gold-copper-cobalt, iron-oxide deposits.
Targeting gold mineralisation at G40S
The Golden Forty South (G40S) project will focus on enhancing ERM’s target detection and data processing methodologies. It is associated with one of the largest and intense magnetic anomalies in the TCMF (second only to the magnetic anomaly associated with the historic high-grade gold, White Devil Mine).
The aim of this project is to collaborate with the best research and industry practitioners to refine Emmerson’s high-resolution drone aeromagnetics, enabling more precise definition of the source of the G40S magnetic anomaly.
As some high-grade gold has been intersected in the general vicinity, the company anticipates that the source of the magnetic anomaly relates to a yet-to-be intersected, gold-bearing magnetite ironstone.
Any success here could have economic implications given the nearby G40 mine (historical production of 57,000 ounces at 12g/t gold) is also the subject of further drilling and future resource estimations.
Targeting extensions at G40E
Golden Forty East (G40E) is targeting extensions to the gold mineralisation at the G40 mine. The G40E target is associated with minor surface prospecting and mining, and is within the same structural corridor as the G40 mine.
The company has planned two diamond drill holes to test for alteration and further mineralisation hosted by magnetite-hematite ironstones within the G40 fold closure.
High-definition aeromagnetic drone survey also to come
The upcoming drone survey is aimed at better defining magnetite-hematite ironstones associated with gold-copper and cobalt. Three mineralised corridors in the TCMF will be flown with the drone survey including the Hermitage prospect in the northern project area.
The Hermitage project is currently being drilled where the discovery drill hole HERC003 intersected 116 metres at 3.4% copper and 0.88g/t gold. Hermitage is one of a cluster of prospects that occurs within the northern gravity corridor – and where the source of these anomalies is the relatively dense hematite shales and jasper that can mask the more subtle hematite ironstones.
The aim of flying high resolution drone magnetics is twofold:
- to enhance ERM’s predictive capability through refining the structural interpretation; and
- to detect discrete magnetic anomalies associated with the predominantly hematite associated ironstones. These ironstones have been shown to host high grades of gold, copper, and cobalt mineralisation and, because of their subdued signature, have seen little previous exploration.