Emu NL is currently building a substantial copper target in WA’s emerging South West Mineral Field, with recent surface sampling at its Viper project outlining copper mineralisation along nearly four kilometres of strike. Sampling extended both east and west of the high-grade Netty copper mine and also returned anomalous levels of nickel and cobalt, pointing to a deeper sulphidic target.
The company’s 153-hole auger sampling program also picked up a second 2km-long copper trend, about 400m south of Netty, highlighting a second target for exploration as auger drilling and sampling resume in coming weeks.
Interestingly, this previously unrecognised trend suggests the Viper project could host a far larger copper-nickel-PGE system than first thought. Emu is now designing an infill and extension sampling program across its tenure as it looks to get a handle on the potential size of the base metal target.
Emu’s Viper copper project, about 400km south-east of Perth and adjacent to the town of Jerramungup, covers more than 100 sq.km of prospective Archean terrane and takes in the extensive Netty copper trend in addition to the newly identified Jerramungup copper trend in the South West Mineral Field.
The South West terrane has come to the fore over the past 12 months following Chalice Mining’s Julimar nickel-PGE discovery, east of Perth, in early 2020. A horde of explorers have descended on the under-explored region looking to unearth a high-value base or precious metal discovery.
Whilst Chalice Mining leads the pack with its Julimar discovery in the north and the Thor prospect near Bridgetown in the south, multi-national miner Anglo American has also joined the hunt, pegging about 10,000 sq.km in the region, and the likes of Impact Minerals, Reedy Lagoon and Okapi Resources have staked claims.
Emu looks to be plotting its own course having picked up ground around the historical Netty copper mine that produced parcels of rich copper ores through the early-to-mid 20th century, with production grades reportedly tipping the scales at more than 10 per cent copper.
Curiously, a review of the historical exploration work around the Netty mine indicates the project has yet to be drill tested despite sampling of the old workings returning chalcopyrite-bornite sulphide-rich specimens grading up to 14.1 per cent copper and 0.5 per cent nickel, along with anomalous gold and platinum group elements.
Emu is now designing a follow-up program across the Viper tenure and will look to conduct infill auger sampling, which will likely see the company close up its 400m-by-100m grid to less than 200m-by-50m, to allow better definition of future drill targets.
The explorer will also extend its auger grid to the west where anomalism remains open and look to complete mapping, sampling and geophysical surveying to gain a greater understanding of the emerging copper system.
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