- Maiden basement drilling tested five geophysical and geochemical targets
- Copper–nickel sulphide system confirmed at Niobe
- Laboratory assays confirm Cu–Ni sulphide mineralisation hosted in a layered mafic intrusion
- Gallium-rich regolith confirmed over the Niobe granite
RareX (ASX: REE) has confirmed a copper-nickel sulphide system with laboratory assay results from its maiden reverse circulation (RC) drilling program at the Khaleesi project in the East Yilgarn, Western Australia.
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The program comprised 22 RC holes for 1,953m across five prospects: Niobe copper (six holes, 805m), Niobe gallium (10 holes, 438m), Rim (three holes, 336m), Nb (two holes, 230m) and Mag (one hole, 144m).
The holes tested coincident gravity and magnetic anomalies and areas of elevated gallium, niobium and rare earths. Most historical drilling stopped at the top of basement, so this program provides the first broad view of the basement geology of the KAIC.
MD and CEO, James Durrant, said the results confirm a fertile alkaline intrusive system, with copper–nickel sulphides in a mafic intrusion at Niobe, and gallium, rare earth and niobium (Nb) enrichment associated with granites across the complex, including A-type alkaline granites at the Rim and Nb targets.
“This first pass of drilling into the basement of the Khaleesi complex has delivered on several fronts,” Mr Durrant said.
“At Niobe we have confirmed a copper–nickel sulphide system within a layered mafic intrusion that sits beneath a large gravity anomaly, and the laboratory assays have confirmed the broad zone of copper we identified in the field. Several holes stopped at, or just into, the top of the intrusion, so the system remains open and largely untested.
“At the same time, the drilling has confirmed that the Niobe granite is gallium rich, with higher grades developed in the overlying regolith. The upcoming IP survey will help us vector towards the higher concentrations of copper sulphides, and we will start metallurgical work on the gallium.”
RareX noted that the potential redistribution of copper within the intrusion by hydrothermal processes presents a favourable exploration target. Hydrothermal fluids have the potential to concentrate copper into structurally or chemically favourable sites, such as faults, contacts and sulphide-rich layers, at higher grades than the disseminated magmatic sulphides intersected to date.
The Niobe intrusion remains largely untested: KRC010 and KRC011 finished within 2.0–6.0m of entering the gabbro, and the mineralised position intersected in KRC012 has not been tested elsewhere along the 400m between the two drill lines or beyond.
The depletion of magnetite that accompanies the best copper in KRC012 also provides a geophysical vector. The Niobe gravity anomaly has both magnetic and non-magnetic components, and the program drilled only the magnetic portions.
The untested non-magnetic portions of the anomaly are therefore of particular interest. They will be assessed together with chargeability anomalies from the planned IP survey to target zones of stronger sulphide development for follow-up drilling.
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