Stelar Metals Ltd (ASX:SLB) has received assay results from an inaugural diamond hole designed to test part of a large gravity anomaly at its 100%-owned Evelyn Dam iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG) Project in South Australia.
The hole, EVE002, was collared on July 12 and drilled to a depth of 1,578.9 metres, with drilling wrapping up on August 7.
Assay results reveal elevated rare earths (REE) associated with iron oxide alteration and breccias zones within the targeted gravity zone.
Elevated rare earths
The critical minerals explorer successfully tested a target gravity anomaly, encountering “remarkable” geology including volcanic breccias with variable haematite-silica, sericite-chlorite and carbonate-fluorite alteration assemblages through the target zone typical of potential IOCG alteration.
Elevated levels of light rare earth elements including caesium, lanthanum and yttrium were noted in the volcanic breccia units in the target zone from 1,346 metres’ depth.
The company says that while the base metal assays were not significant, the raised REE levels could be a signpost for large-scale IOCG ore bodies and alteration systems like Olympic Dam and Carrapateena, which are also located in the Gawler Craton in South Australia.
Multi-element analysis
Four zones of noteworthy geology, including representative sections of the mafic dyke and three volcanic breccia zones, were cut to generate 91 original samples for multi-element geochemistry.
The process used four-acid total-digest, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) analysis for 60 elements by Intertek Laboratory in Adelaide.
What’s next?
Stelar Metals will now undertake a review of the geophysical models and prospectivity at Evelyn Dam.
Given the Evelyn Dam Project has had previous major mining interest and investment from companies such as BHP and Rio, Stelar is considering signing up a joint venture partner before it advances the project further.
The company is also reviewing its portfolio and conducting due diligence on a number of new Australian critical metals projects with a focus on lithium, uranium and zinc to add to its suite of projects.
“Elevated levels of REE assays intersected in EVE002 within brecciated and iron oxide bi-modal volcanics has advanced our understanding of the large-scale Evelyn Dam IOCG target successfully on budget,” CEO Colin Skidmore said.
“BHP and Rio have the explored this project historically, so we will consider opportunities to joint venture partner prior to advancing this large-scale exploration project further.”