Daly River EL 356, Cuprex JV, report on exploration carried out during 1997

Abstract

EL 356 expired in 1977 and has been replaced by five granted MLNs and 40 MLN applications. This is the final report on EL 356. The operators are Cuprex which was formerly the Western Nuclear JV. Exploration during 1977 within EL 356 focused on two Cu-Zn prospects: Anomaly A and Warrs. In August 1997, two diamond drillholes DDH A28 and DDH A29 were drilled at Anomaly A to test the possible continuity of mineralisation at depth below 500 feet depth. The rocks intercepted could not be correlated with previous drilling with any certainty. This may be due to facies changes in the volcanics. A Pulse EM was conducted for a total 25.17 line km. The survey detected some, but not all, of the known mineralisation and suggested that no near-surface orebodies have been missed. Despite the deep drilling and PEM, the strike and dip of mineralisation at Anomaly A remains enigmatic. The W26 lens is the best defined. It is estimated to contain approximately 210,000t at 0.65% Cu, 18.7% Zn with approximately 3 g/t Ag and 0.3% Pb. The A26 lens is estimated at 540,000 t at 2.2% Cu, 6.58% Zn, 19 g/t Ag and 0.3% Pb. The report contains no assay data for the drillholes (but see CR1978-0189 and CR1978-0190) and only hardcopy profiles of the EM. The report was not submitted by the operators at the time but was acquired by the Department in 2004 during the rationalistaion of Woodcutters library.