EL 32285 and EL 32286 Ground Gravity and Passive Seismic Survey (Ranken Project South Nicholson Basin, NT - Geophysics and Drilling Collaboration Program Round 15 (2022)

Abstract

Knox Resources Pty Ltd (Knox or the Company) was a successful applicant and awarded a cofunding grant under the Northern Territory (NT) Government's Round 15 Geophysics and Drilling Collaborations (GDC) program. The co-funding grant was applicable to Exploration Licences (EL) 32285 and 32286 within the South Nicholson Basin of the NT to acquire a ground-gravity survey. The survey was based on a spacing grid of 1 km x 1 km station spacing to complement the existing datasets along with a passive seismic horizontal to vertical spectral ratio (HVSR) survey totalling 220 km at station intervals of 400 m. Knox's Ranken Project encompasses two exploration permits (EL 32285 and EL 32286) that lie approximately 320 km east of Tennant Creek in the NT. Unlike the East Tennant Project, the Ranken Project is hosted within the central west of the Mesoproterozoic South Nicholson Basin. This region is largely obscured by younger Cambrian Georgina Basin and Cenozoic cover sequences and has therefore undergone only very limited mineral exploration activities including any drill hole data. Knox's exploration targeting has interpreted that the Ranken Project is host to McNamara Group sequences below shallow (<300 m) Georgina Basin sediments. Both Isa style copper and sedimentary hosted style deposits are hosted within several stratigraphic levels of the McNamara Group and Isa Superbasin equivalents highlighting the Project area is a prospective base metal target area. The original survey was proposed for August 2022. However, the survey was delayed due to corporate transactions involving the sale of assets from Greenvale Mining NL to Astro Resources. Further significant delays were encountered in early 2023 due to heavy rainfall resulting in flooding in the Ranken Project area and preventing the crews from accessing the site. Atlas Geophysics Pty Ltd (Atlas) undertook the ground-based gravity survey over EL 32285 and EL 32286 from 20 May 2023 to 7 June 2023 using utility terrain vehicles (UTVs). A total of 1,047 new gravity stations were acquired using 1 km x 1 km grid configurations. Field data were processed and modelled by Resource Potentials Pty Ltd (Resource Potentials) in Perth, with the geological interpretation undertaken by SRK Consulting (Australasia) Pty Ltd (SRK). The passive seismic HVSR program was acquired by Atlas between 21 May and 8 June 2023 using Tromino seismometers. A total of 282 passive seismic HVSR recording stations were acquired using a nominal station spacing of 400 m with nine survey lines of variable length and orientations collected. The data were acquired using a 20-minute recording period and a sampling frequency of 128 Hz. Resource Potentials conducted quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC), data processing and preliminary data interpretations. The acquisition of the detailed gravity and passive seismic over EL 32285 and EL 32286 has greatly added to the NT regional gravity datasets, with the work already completed from these datasets further highlighting the greenfields prospectivity of the South Nicholson Basin. The new data will provide a better understanding of important structural corridors, distribution and architecture of prospective geological horizons and potential fluid sources and has provided greater confidence for proposing a stratigraphic hole, Ranken-01, within the permit area. Knox is currently evaluating the new geological and geophysical data to position the stratigraphic hole in an optimal location.