ASX-listed Emu NL has completed the acquisition of its flagship Sunfire nickel-copper-PGE prospect near Bridgetown in WA. Located in the emerging South West mineral field, the Sunfire project hosts a suite of mafic-ultramafic intrusions that display a similar electromagnetic signature to Chalice Mining’s coveted Julimar discovery and it is adjacent to Venture Minerals and Chalice Mining’s evolving Thor deposit.
Emu entered into an agreement with private enterprise Avenger Projects in September last year to acquire its portfolio of three prospective exploration projects in the southwest of Western Australia within 450 kilometres of Perth. The portfolio included the Sunfire, Graceland and Viper projects.
The 31.3 square kilometre Sunfire project is located around 240km south of Perth in WA and sits between the South West towns of Bridgetown and Manjimup. It comprises of one exploration license application which covers three recognised base metal trends that extend across more than 5km of strike.
Venture Minerals and Chalice Mining’s Thor base metals prospect JV has been dubbed a “Julimar look-alike” magnetic anomaly. According to a recent announcement by Venture, it is associated with chromium rich rocks indicative of mafic-ultramafic intrusions.
Curiously the project area has only been the subject of limited exploration, with the most significant work dating back over 50 years to the 1960s. Exploration by Planet Mining in the late 1960s and early 1970s unearthed a series of nickel and copper anomalies across the project area which, when married with modern geophysics, appears to show these targets to be associated with a series of magnetic anomalies.
The magnetic targets at Sunfire are interpreted by the company to be mafic-ultramafic intrusions, presenting a similar geological scenario to the recent, high profile Julimar and Mawson nickel-copper-PGE discoveries and an enviable pipeline of targets for Emu’s developing exploration program.
Work completed to date by the company has already highlighted six nickel-copper geochemical targets that are drill bit ready.
The most significant of these anomalies is the Yornup Mill target in the central tenement area, where surface sampling has outlined an extensive geochemical target over 1.5 kilometres in length. The Yornup target appears to only be limited by the extent of the existing geochemical survey, with both nickel and copper anomalisms extending to the north and south of the prospect, highlighting a trio of new targets along strike including the Railway, Aerial and Seaton-Ross prospects.
Limited historical drilling across the Yornup Mill target has returned some impressive results including 19 metres at 1.07 per cent nickel from only 6m down-hole. Deeper diamond drilling at Yornup has also intersected disseminated sulphides and hint at a potential magmatic source for the nickel and copper mineralisation in the near surface exploration results.
With a swag of high priority targets identified already, Emu is in the throes of planning its first stage of ground exploration. An electromagnetic survey is scheduled to commence early next year and the survey is designed to refine the modelling of deep conductors over the highly anomalous Yornup Mill nickel zones to assist with drill targeting.
Further surface geochemistry is also planned to extend copper and nickel anomalies at Yournup Mill, Railway, Aerial and Seaton Ross targets.
The South West Mineral Field lays claim to hosting a bevvy of world-class poly metallic deposits, including the colossal Boddington gold-copper mine and the hard rock lithium deposit at Greenbushes. Meanwhile, Chalice Mining is rapidly unveiling the potential of its celebrated Julimar nickel-copper-PGE deposit and extending its expertise to realise the potential of the Thor deposit. Emu has just cemented its position in a solid real estate address with the acquisition of the Sunfire project – now for some drill bit action.
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20 Nov 2025
17 Jul 2024
