Multi-element explorer St George Mining has wrapped up its maiden drill campaign after completing its three final drill holes at the company’s Paterson copper-gold project in WA’s Pilbara region. St George will now shift focus to its Mt Alexander nickel and copper project west of Leonora as it looks to drill a set of nickel, copper and PGE targets and collect rock chip samples from a pegmatite outcrop.
Initial geological observations of the drill core coming out of Paterson indicate a structural and alteration environment with potassic-rich granites intruding host sediments through brittle deformed faults and vein structures.
The core also shows locally intense alteration and hydrothermal veining with multiple zones of sulphides. The company says the features are evidence of mineralising processes, supporting the project’s potential for a payload of mineralisation.
Of particular interest to the explorer was the presence of thick carbonate-rich sediments in one of the holes that encouragingly may provide a favourable environment for copper-gold mineralisation.
St George Mining Executive Chairman, John Prineas said: “Eight drill holes have been completed in the current program. These very broad spaced holes tested several large conceptual target zones across the 35km strike of the Paterson Project area.”
“Significantly, all completed drill holes have confirmed the presence of a favourable geological setting to potentially host copper and gold systems.”
Drill core samples have been submitted for petrographic analysis with laboratory assays underway.
Petrographic analysis is performed by explorers to identify important information about the rocks they encounter such as mineral composition and geologic history.
Follow-up drilling will be planned once the assays and petrographic results are returned. The company expects the return of the assays within eight weeks.
Notably, the same lithologies St George encountered host several copper-gold deposits in the Paterson province. In particular, the company points to nearby deposits held by ASX-listed Antipa Minerals and Rio Tinto.
Just 20km to the west of St George, Antipa holds its flagship Minyari Dome project of 1.8 million ounces of gold and 64,000 tonnes of copper.
A further 50km west is Rio’s wholly owned Winu deposit that it discovered in early 2019, containing 5.9 million ounces of gold and 2.5Mt of copper.
Rio also has a hand in Antipa’s Citadel development project in the area, earning a 65 per cent stake through an exploration expenditure of $25 million.
The Paterson province is one of Australia’s most highly endowed mineral provinces in Australia and hosts ASX-listed Newcrest Mining’s giant Telfer copper-gold deposit.
Just 100km south of St George’s ground, it is one of Australia’s highest-producing mines, routinely raking in more than 400,000 ounces of gold per year.
Interestingly, in a 2017 publication by the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Telfer was pegged as WA’s third largest gold deposit when including past production and current reserves.
Whilst St George awaits its assays for Paterson it will also tend to its other irons in the fire.
At its Ajana nickel, copper and PGE project 65km north-north-east of the port of Geraldton stakeholder engagement is underway as St George prepares for a maiden drilling program later this year.
At the company’s flagship Mt Alexander nickel and copper project St George is using a raft of seismic and electromagnetic data to finalise its drill targets. Early indications from the data suggest anomalies prospective for nickel, copper and PGE are emerging.
In addition, the company plans to continue mapping and sampling Mt Alexander’s extensive outcropping pegmatites that it believes could be part of the same system that hosts ASX-listed Red Dirt Metals’ nearby lithium discovery.
With multiple projects going at once, market investors can expect plenty of news flow from the company’s portfolio. However, St George Mining’s upcoming assays from the Paterson province should demand a special interest as the area plays host to top-calibre companies and deposits.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Matt Birney
