Taruga Minerals Ltd (ASX:TAR) has kicked off an auger drilling program at its wholly-owned Mt Craig Project in South Australia.
With the campaign now underway, the explorer hopes to shape geochemical profiles across Mt Craig’s rare earth element (REE) and newly defined copper targets, which lie between 2 and 20 metres below the surface in shallow cover.
Taruga honed in on these targets thanks to a recent review program, which incorporated high-resolution geophysics, mapping and modern drill data.
In tandem with the auger program, Taruga plans to hit the ground with a high-resolution ground magnetics program, which will include geophysical modelling and mapping in preparation for an upcoming reverse circulation drill program.
The program recently secured a financial boost from the South Australian Government’s Accelerated Discovery Initiative, which provided Taruga with $650,000 to support REE and copper exploration.
Preparing to test more targets than ever before
Commenting on the campaign’s commencement, Taruga CEO Thomas Line said: “This auger program will provide geochemical profiles of the soil and regolith over targets concealed by shallow cover.
“The auger can drill down to approximately 14 metres, meaning that we can obtain indicators of clay-hosted REE deposits as well as concealed copper mineralisation that can’t be seen from the surface.
“The targets we have identified are comprised of previously unknown anomalies, discovered by our team, and the ground in these areas has never before been drilled. We have applied our own concepts and new data to build these new targets and prioritise them.
“Auger results will assist in guiding RC drilling set to commence in July, during which we will be testing more targets than we ever have before at Mt Craig.
"The $650,000 of State Government funding awarded recently has supercharged our exploration budget and allowed us to accelerate the systematic targeting of new prospects at Mt Craig.”