- Auger drilling underway at high-grade Joy Helen prospect
- Mineralisation over at least 300m of strike
- Historic work identified lead, copper, zinc and silver
Miramar Resources (ASX:M2R) has commenced auger drilling at the historic Joy Helen prospect within the Chain Pool project in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia.
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Joy Helen contains historic workings with high-grade copper-lead and silver (Cu-Pb-Ag) mineralisation over a strike length of approximately 300m.
It has been shown to have similarities to the high-grade Lady Loretta Sedimentary Exhalative (SEDEX) lead-zinc and silver (Pb-Zn-Ag) deposit in Queensland.
MD, Marion Bush, said the auger program aims to outline the extent of high-grade mineralisation beneath shallow cover by testing the carbonate alteration halos outlined by Miramar’s soil sampling.
“We’re happy to have a drill bit turning again at our Chain Pool project for the first time in over 60 years. This is the first drilling since rotary air blast holes were completed back in 1964 and there has been no systematic or recent exploration either, so it’s a fantastic opportunity for a potential base metal discovery,” Ms Bush said.
“We’ve planned about 100 shallow vertical holes across the three main alteration halos at the Joy Helen prospect. We’ll drill as deep as the rig can go, which we estimate will range from 2 to 20 metres.
“We believe the SEDEX style copper lead silver mineralisation may be close to surface. Taking the project location and geology into account, an auger rig is an effective and efficient tool to test our geological model.”
The program is expected to take approximately two weeks to complete with samples coming back to Perth for assay.
“Depending on results our next steps could include aircore and/or RC drilling,” Ms Bush told shareholders.
The Joy Helen prospect was previously tested with shallow pits and shafts over a strike length of approximately 150m with the shaft on the eastern lode assaying 2.4m at 35% lead and 5.0% copper, and the middle lode covering 9.0m at five to 10% lead.
A chip sample from a pit on the eastern lode reportedly assayed 23.6% lead, 0.24% zinc, 0.15% copper and 19.28 grams per tonne (g/t) silver.
A program of 91 shallow vertical “air blast” drill holes undertaken in 1964 around the old workings intersected sub-horizontal copper and lead mineralisation of up to 1.6% and 13.7% respectively.
Rock chip sampling at Joy Helen by Miramar in 2024 confirmed and extended the strike length of high-grade mineralisation.
M2R is steady at 0.3¢. Mkt cap $6.328M.
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