Geophysics and Drilling Collaborations Final Report 2014

Abstract

Teck Australia completed a high resolution aeromagnetic and radiometric survey over the Yalco project. The objective of the survey was to collect high resolution magnetic and radiometric data which is considered critical to the development of a detailed structural and stratigraphic framework for this poorly explored region of the southern Batten Fault Zone. Despite the world class size of the McArthur River Zn-Pb deposit, the northern extension of the main deposit controlling structure - the Emu Fault zone - has never been effectively tested in the Yalco area for shale-hosted massive sulphide mineralisation. The airborne survey was the first stage of a multi-year campaign to generate and test targets within the Yalco project area. The survey was undertaken between the 14th and 31st August by UTS Geophysics. The primary survey line orientation was east-west, approximately perpendicular to the Emu Fault zone, with a total of 5055 line kilometres (279 lines) flown. Despite a challenging environment of low magnetic gradients, the survey successfully delineated the regionally significant Emu Fault corridor and several second-order structures. Preliminary processing has been done as well as simple modelling, allowing magnetic source depths across the tenement to be estimated.