E79 Gold Mines runs Ultrafine+ pilot soil sampling program at Jungar Flats project
E79 Gold Mines’ completed gravity survey has mapped the interpreted northern extent of the Big Bell Shear.
West Australian-based explorer E79 Gold Mines (ASX: E79) has deployed a pilot soil sampling program using Ultrafine+ technology at its Jungar Flats gold project in Western Australia’s Murchison region.
Developed by Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), the industry-leading particle analysis technique is capable of identifying prospective areas for gold and other commodities.
A successful outcome could pave the way for E79 to conduct an expanded program over selected parts of the Jungar Flats tenement delineated in a recent large-scale gravity survey.
Conducted in March, the survey was designed to more accurately define the location of the inferred northern extent of the Big Bell shear (which hosts the 4.2 million ounce Big Bell gold deposit) and greenstone stratigraphy underneath surficially mapped granite.
The delineated areas of the survey are believed to be prospective greenstone stratigraphy under cover.
Sample collection
E79 chief executive officer Ned Summerhayes said the company collected 350 samples to trial the innovative technique.
“Ultrafine+ has the ability to identify geology-related geochemistry under the hard cap, which is an impermeable indurated layer beneath the surface that renders traditional soil sample geochemistry ineffective,” he said.
“The success of this program will flow into a much larger program across Jungar Flats aimed at unearthing new areas of gold anomalism which traditional soils would not find.”
Pilot study areas
Of the four areas within Jungar Flats which were tested in the pilot study, three were over the Big Bell Shear, 40 kilometres south of the project.
All three returned anomalous gold, demonstrating the prospectivity of the area.
In the northern two areas, gold was found to be associated with pathfinders within a broader silver-copper-bismuth zone.
The western area had gold anomalism associated with arsenic and antimony, while sampling in the southern area showed no coherent anomalies using Ultrafine+.
“Our next step is to utilise this technique over the wider project area, with a particular focus on areas identified by the gravity survey as potential greenstone,” Mr Summerhayes said.