This week’s discovery of multiple magnetic anomalies on Artemis Resources’ ground that abuts Greatland Gold’s spectacular new Havieron copper-gold discovery in the Pilbara, will no doubt quicken a few punter pulses as the story unfolds.
Artemis said this week it has delineated multiple targets for follow up exploration from a geophysical interpretation of its recent low level, high-resolution, aeromagnetic survey over the Armada prospect in the emerging Paterson Ranges.
The survey was flown in November last year over the western half of the company’s 605 square kilometre exploration licence and outlines 8 high value targets that all lie within about 20km of Greatland Gold’s amazing Havieron project discovery.
The Artemis exploration ground is surrounded on three sides by the UK-listed Greatland’s own exploration licence, from which that company last year reported spectacular deep copper-gold assays.
Greatland’s drilling followed up earlier work by Newcrest Mining, with an initial vertical diamond drill hole showing 121 metres grading 2.93g/t gold and 0.23% copper from 497m down-hole.
Follow-up holes by Greatland were even better at 275m @ 4.77g/t gold and 0.61% copper from 459m down-hole, which incorporated 118m @ 3.08g/t gold and 0.84% copper from 459m and 157m @ 6.04g/t gold and 0.44% copper from 660m.
Two of Artemis’ new priority geophysical targets identified at Armada, lie in a 6km long corridor, directly along strike and north of Havieron.
The Kzinti target is centred only 3km from Havieron and is a strongly magnetic unit about 1km long.
The 1.5km long Bolian target is 6km north of Havieron and sits on an intriguing geological flexure, with some apparent thickening or circular zonation of the magnetic feature, not unlike Havieron.
Other exploration targets were identified both north and south of Greatland’s key new discovery in the Paterson Ranges.
Artemis Executive Director Ed Mead said: “The drilling results from Greatland Gold on their Havieron gold copper discovery near Telfer are quite extraordinary.”
“The latest airborne survey undertaken by Artemis has now identified a large number of very prospective exploration targets surrounding Havieron, with the Kzinti Target as close as only 2.5 km away and on the Greatland/Artemis tenement boundary.”
“Artemis surrounds Havieron on three sides and right now we see this project as one of the most exciting in the company’s extensive Pilbara tenement portfolio.”
Artemis’ geophysical consultants have recommended a gravity survey over the Armada prospect to better define the highest priority targets identified during the aeromagnetic data interpretation phase.
According to management, the gravity survey work may also outline further anomalies that currently have no magnetic signature at all.
Artemis’ Armada prospect lies only 40km east of the mammoth Telfer gold mine that has produced over 27 million ounces of gold and 1 million tonnes of copper to date.
Greatland Gold has indicated that the alteration and mineralisation drill tested at its Havieron project displays similarities to the major iron oxide-copper-gold deposits known as “IOCG” deposits at Olympic Dam in South Australia and the revered Ernest Henry mine in western Queensland.
Artemis now believes that its Armada prospect may also be prospective for IOCG-style deposits, which has been backed up by this week’s discovery of 8 compelling new magnetic targets on the tenement package.
The Havieron project and therefore Artemis’ Armada prospect are also reported as being close to Rio Tinto’s rumoured new major Winu copper discovery in this rapidly developing region.
Whilst the recent spectacular Greatland and Rio discoveries have sparked a conga line of nearology hopefuls invading the territory with some still claiming nearology from hundreds of km’s away, Artemis actually shares a boundary with Greatland – and these new magnetic anomolies indicate that it might just be a bit more than a nearology play.
By Matt Birney
