C29 Metals Ltd (ASX:C29) has acquired the Mayfield Copper Project in the eastern fold belt of the Proterozoic Mount Isa Inlier and will immediately begin exploration.
The project is just 25 kilometres from Carnaby Resources Nil Desperandum and Lady Fanny projects, and less than 50 kilometres from Hammer Metals Kalman deposit.
This acquisition was completed following the indicative approval given by the Queensland Government's Department of Resources for the transfer to C29 of the exploration licence EPM19483.
Project potential
More than 80% of the project area is under thin alluvial cover exhibiting extensive near-surface mineralisation associated with magnetic anomalies. This highlights the potential of the project and C29’s attraction to it.
The company will begin exploring immediately with geophysical surveys planned this year.
Working in its favour is the lack of recent exploration, with only limited, shallow historic drill testing done as well as the scope for application of modern geophysical and geochemical methods for target generation.
C29 will pay $210,000 in cash and issue 1,558,963 fully paid ordinary shares at a deemed issue price of $0.157 per share.
“It’s been a patient wait but we are now looking forward to getting stuck into this project,” C29’s executive director Mark Major said.
“Mayfield is an amazing opportunity for the company, acquired at a time when the world moves into an electrification future where these minerals are critically needed to reduce greenhouse emissions by 2030.
"It’s located in a well-established mineral camp, between two historical mines and where numerous new discoveries are being made using modern exploration. It is now recognised that undiscovered mineralised systems exist at depth, under the cover.”
About Mayfield
The Mayfield Project is about 150 kilometres southeast of Mount Isa within the Mary Kathleen Zone of the Eastern Succession. The dominant Proterozoic geology consists of Argylla and Corella Formation volcanics and sediments, located adjacent to the Pilgrim Fault Zone, a very large, strike slip fault system that extends over 200 kilometres to the north.
At either end of the project, sits the Trekelano copper-gold mine with a resource (2006) of 3.1 million tonnes at 2.1% copper and 0.64 g/t gold, and the Tick Hill mine which produced 470,000 tonnes at 28 g/t gold.
Location of Mayfield project within the Mt Isa inlier and nearby deposits.
The structural setting and fertile Corella Formation rocks combine to produce a highly prospective belt with numerous IOCG-style copper-gold and base-metal occurrences.
Almost the entire Pilgrim Fault Zone is under lease and recent work by various companies, including Hammer Metals at their Kalman project and Carnaby Resources with the recent discovery at Nil Desperandum and Lady Fanny, supports the potential for discovery within the Mayfield project.
The project area consists of a single large tenement and a smaller single block, with a combined area of 91 square kilometres.
Within the tenement at least three mineralisation styles have been defined by previous workers; mylonite-hosted gold only (eg Tick Hill), ironstone-hosted magnetic copper-gold (eg Trekelano) and zinc-lead-silver mineralisation (Delta Maiden Ck prospect).
Extensive regional soil sampling indicates that the magnetic anomalies (generally concealed) are associated with copper-gold or base metal mineralisation along much of their strike length at Mayfield.
What’s next
The exploration licence was recently renewed for an additional three years and C29 is/has:
- currently preparing to start immediate exploration;
- begun planning for on-ground exploration; and
- set to start a geophysical survey.
On completion of these initial works, C29 will begin a process of target ranking and prioritisation across the project area.
It will then design follow-up work for the highest ranked targets dependent on the level of existing exploration at each target with the aim to be drill testing as soon as possible.
Follow-up work for less advanced targets is likely to consist of geochemical sampling including soil sampling, auger drilling and aircore drilling. In cases with more advanced stage targets this is likely to include electromagnetic surveys and drilling to basement with RC or diamond.