Junior explorer Emu NL has lit up a 10 kilometre structural corridor at its flagship Badja gold project due east of Geraldton in WA that it says is prospective for gold and tungsten. Results from a recent soil sampling program have etched out a string of high-priority targets along the corridor that are set to feel the impending bite of the drill bit.
Emu’s Badja gold project sits in the resurgent Murchison mineral field, 32km south-east of the historical Yalgoo mining centre.
Notably, it sits just 85km north of Tungsten Mining’s Mt Mulgine tungsten and molybdenum project and its 207 million tonne resource base going 0.11 per cent tungsten – making it the largest inferred tungsten resource in Australia.
Recent drilling by Emu at its Monte Cristo prospect coughed up multiple intriguing tungsten hits, including 12 metres grading 0.12 per cent tungsten from 58m, containing an internal metre returning an impressive 0.64 per cent tungsten along with 6m grading 0.18 per cent tungsten from 58m downhole.
Following the encouraging drill results, Emu conducted a comprehensive soil geochemical survey along the structural corridor testing for extensions to known gold mineralisation at the Gnows Nest deposit and further hints of the recent anomalous intercepts of gold and tungsten at its recent Monte Cristo and Watertank Hill discoveries.
The company says results from the soil survey highlighted a bevy of high priority gold-in-soil anomalies coincident with favourable geological and structural settings.
Interestingly, a high-priority gold-in-soil anomaly reportedly extends continuously between the recently discovered Monte Cristo and Watertank Hill prospects, suggesting a possible linkage of the two gold lodes that are
A high-grade tungsten anomaly was also outlined coincident with a gold-in-soil anomaly at the Monte Cristo prospect
According to Emu, two drill rigs have been secured to start drill testing of the high-priority targets in mid-April.
Up to 2500m of reverse circulation, or “RC” drilling will test the company’s theory of interconnected gold lodes at Monte Cristo and Watertank Hill, along with probing the source of the high-tungsten anomaly at Monte Cristo.
Additionally, the company says two deeper RC holes have been designed to test the continuation of gold mineralisation at saddle zone between the north-plunging and south-plunging ore shoots at the Gnows Nest gold deposit.
Earlier exploration by previous owners of the project yielded a shallow JORC-resource of 113,400 tonnes at a respectable 3.78 grams per tonne gold over the Gnows Nest mine.
A further 6500m of air-core drilling will plumb the subsurface source of a throng of regional high priority gold-in-soil anomalies coincident with favourable geological and structural settings.
With the drill rigs locked-and-loaded Emu says it will continue to investigate the economic importance of the tungsten anomalies intersected in recent drilling at Monte Cristo. A suite of 44 samples have been resubmitted for tungsten-specific analysis at Nagrom Analytical.
While assay results are yet to be returned, Emu says it expects results from the follow-up round of sampling to be more telling due to the more specific analysis.
To satisfy its own curiosity, Emu says it also conducted ultra-violet testing on all Monte Cristo RC drill cuttings to visually identify the fluorescence of scheelite, the main tungsten host mineral. The company reported six new tungsten-rich zones were identified in the previous drilling that had not received multi-element analysis.
The European Commission has identified tungsten as a ‘critical raw material’ that is growing in global importance due to looming supply risks and its inability to be substituted.
China chips in nearly 85 per cent of global supply of tungsten concentrate currently, driving other countries to secure their own supplies to offset the risks of a geo-political supply chain disruption.
EMU Chairman, Peter Thomas said: “The results of our recent soil sampling programme highlighted significant new zones in otherwise untested areas at Badja delineating a 10km end-on-end prospective structural corridor representing a substantial exploration area whilst the recent attention applied by EMU to the tungsten geochemistry in the Monte Cristo prospect area enlivens hitherto unrecognised opportunities.”
The Murchison is currently attracting a horde of new explorers following the success of the likes of Surefire and White Cliff Minerals, with their impressive new gold discoveries in the area.
With the addition of high-grade tungsten contributing further potential value to the company’s impressive array of gold hits at Monte Carlo, Emu will no doubt be keen to see what the drill bit can do with its impending drilling program.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Matt Birney
