Canadian listed Novo Resources said it has identified multiple untested magnetic anomalies comparable to the gold-bearing intrusions at De Grey Mining’s extraordinary nine-million-ounce Hemi gold discovery. The new targets have been etched out of the northern sector of Novo’s 100 per cent owned Egina project in the West Australian Pilbara Craton. They were identified through a detailed aeromagnetic interpretation in conjunction with extensive soil sampling.
Novo’s new targets are located within a broad north-east trending structural corridor that forms part of a network of shear zones and sanukitoid intrusive centres that host the Hemi discovery. Hemi is one of Australia’s recent major gold discoveries and sparked a lot of interest in its intrusive style of geology that previously was not well known for its mineralisation.
The Pilbara has long been known as a lucrative place to find and mine iron ore, however gold exploration in WA has generally been focussed on the aptly named Goldfield’s region. Discoveries such as the juggernaut Hemi discovery have been an eye-opener for other explorers about the potential for large-scale economical gold deposits to exist in the Pilbara.
Novo currently has a Pilbara landholding of 216 square kilometres across a highly prospective and somewhat underexplored tenure in the Mallina Basin where its Egina project is located.
Less than 10 per cent of the north Egina project area is outcropping, with the majority covered by transported colluvial and alluvial material. Previous geochemical anomalies were restricted to regions of weathered outcrop, which led to the broader bedrock targets being poorly tested by past explorers. The lack of previous systematic sampling implies the bedrock anomalies remain open under transported cover for several kilometres to the west and east, according to the company.
Historical RAB drilling across the northern Egina soil anomalies in 1997 by previous owner Resolute Mining, yielded encouraging results including 3 metres grading 3.68 grams per tonne from 25m downhole, 1m going 1.63 g/t gold from 26m and 2m grading 1.09 g/t from 32m downhole.
Ongoing geophysical and structural interpretation in conjunction with historical data analysis at Egina will aid in drill targeting with drilling planned for early 2022.
Gold assays will be undertaken by PhotonAssay at the Intertek laboratory in Perth that provides a much faster turnaround time than traditional fire assaying, averaging only 7 to 9 days for gold assays.
Non-Executive Co-Chairman and a director of Novo, Quinton Hennigh said: “Numerous potential intrusive centers resembling sanukitoids like those at Hemi exist along a NE trending corridor extending from Novo’s tenure to Hemi.”
“At Becher, a coincident Au-As-Sb soil anomaly is associated with an interpreted cluster of such intrusions. Novo plans to undertake high-resolution aeromagnetics, regolith and basement mapping and grid soil sampling in preparation for drilling in 2022.”
Novo’s Pilbara tenure, dominated by transported cover, may have hampered previous explorers, however, modern exploration techniques could uncover a different story. With increased confidence and geological understanding in the area drawn from the mammoth Hemi discovery nearby, Novo is in an intriguing position ahead of drill testing early next year.
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By Matt Birney
