Stelar Metals Ltd (ASX:SLB) has secured an initial 6-year exploration licence (EL 6863) covering the historical Baratta Copper Mine, gaining control over a 1.5-kilometre-long structure interpreted to control copper mineralisation immediately adjacent to the company’s existing Baratta Project (EL 6803).
Read: Stelar Metals shares rise after applying for exploration licence over Baratta Copper Mine area
The Baratta Copper Mine produced ore between 1896 and 1904 from a 1.5-kilometre mineralised horizon, which is believed to extend further into Stelar’s adjacent exploration tenement.
A portable x-ray fluorescence (pXRF) analysis of discarded ore in one shallow workings pit on the site recorded grades up to 36% copper and 478 g/t silver, backed up by soil sampling results that indicate the presence of parallel strike extensions.
Promising new targets identified
“Now that both EL 6863 and adjacent EL 6803 are granted, Stelar has commenced actively exploring the Baratta Project,” Stelar Metals CEO Colin Skidmore said.
“Along with the historic copper mining and surface mineralisation along similar structures at Baratta, substantial geophysical datasets collected by historical explorers at great cost are being reprocessed and interpreted by Stelar using the latest technologies.
“New targets worthy of further investigation have already been identified at Baratta.”
EL 6863 gradient array induced polarisation (GA-IP) chargeability image showing the historic Baratta Copper Mine area, known copper soil anomalies and large untested chargeability anomaly.
Stelar has now begun initial exploration programs at Baratta, including geological mapping, soil sampling and rock-chip sampling – specifically focused on the Tindelpina Shale Member and the intrusive (and therefore potentially mineralised) structures.
The company intends to refine Baratta’s potential targets for drill testing, while also evaluating the project for rare earth element (REE) potential.