GDC1600016 Rover 1 Passive Seismic Survey Partial Completion Report

Abstract

This report describes the implementation and results of the passive seismic survey conducted over the Rover 1 Iron Oxide Copper Gold (IOCG) mineral deposit. The survey was granted co-funding from the Northern Territory Government as part of Round 16 Geophysics and Drilling Collaboration (2023). The Rover Project is located approximately 100km west-southwest of the Tennant Creek township comprising seven granted tenements that fall within aboriginal freehold lands of the Karlantijpa South Land Trust and Karlantijpa North Land Trust. The project area is considered prospective for copper and gold and base metals mineralisation associated with Iron Oxide Copper Gold (IOCG) mineralising systems. GDC1600016 Rover 1 Passive Seismic work program is a proof-of-concept passive seismic survey utilising Ambient Noise Tomography (ANT) and Horizontal-to-Vertical Spectral Ratio (HVSR) methods at Rover 1. The seismic velocity differentials between the Wiso Basin sediments, Paleoproterozoic basement metasediments and IOCG ironstone bodies at Rover 1 are expected to be reflected in the density of those rock types, and therefore these passive seismic methods should be able to successfully discriminate massive ironstone bodies and depth to basement. It is beneficial to remove as many variables as possible when considering new exploration methods to ensure results are unambiguous. To this end, the geologically well established Rover 1 IOCG deposit will be used to calibrate the processing methodology on the data collected. The passive seismic survey at Rover 1 was only partially completed due to a combination of hardware technical and delivery issues delaying the survey roll-out until 27th December 2023, and a significantly stronger wet season that cut access to the Rover Project until late May 2024, delaying sensor maintenance and damaging two of the three sensors installed during December. The results of HSVR processing of station 1003 appears to show the basement paleosurface and a further interface at depth depth. The position of the sensor does not provide any information on nature or position of the host ironstones of Rover 1. The HSVR data for station 1003 shows that relatively shorter periods data collection of 2 to 5 and 10 days are reflective of data taken over longer periods (5 months) and thus, survey capture can significantly shortened to examine more sites or surveys expanded compared to what was originally planned (2 week surveys). The original premise of using passive seismic as a means for exploring for IOCG mineralisation was not successfully completed. It is recommended to implement the original sensor array to establish it's effectiveness as an exploration tool.