OZZ Resources identifies gold and copper anomalies at historic Rabbit Bore project
OZZ Resources plans to begin drilling its Maguires Reward gold project next month.
Geochemical sampling at the Rabbit Bore project near Meekatharra in Western Australia has identified two compelling target areas for owner OZZ Resources (ASX: OZZ).
A total 750 samples were collected in November across the 80%-owned project, focusing on prospective greenstone lithologies and previously defined aeromagnetic anomalies.
They were assayed for 52 elements including gold and base metals, with the results indicating gold, copper and potentially nickel-PGE (platinum group elements) mineralisation.
The compelling targets comprise a 1 kilometre-long strong gold anomaly associated with historic gold workings, and an unexpected +2km-long copper-in-soil anomaly in the central-western part of the tenement.
The gold anomaly sits adjacent to an ultramafic unit with coincident nickel-platinum-palladium-chromium, highlighting the potential for nickel-PGE mineralisation.
Drilling plans
OZZ intends to expedite drilling at Rabbit Bore in conjunction with planned exploration at the Maguires gold project.
The company also plans to complete airborne or ground-based electromagnetic surveys over the target areas to identify potential conductors which may provide a clearer vector for drill targeting.
Managing director Jonathan Lea said the geochemical results “surprised us on the upside”.
“It’s not often that you are able to find such large targets, prospective for a suite of different metals, in an area where no previous drilling exists in the north-eastern goldfields,” he said.
“This is a very exciting development for our shareholders and we are planning to commence drilling as soon as possible, subject to government and heritage approvals.”
Single exploration licence
The Rabbit Bore project is comprised of a single exploration licence covering an area of 21 square kilometres in WA’s central Murchison district.
It lies at the northern end of the Mt Weld greenstone belt, which is a 5.5km-long north-northeast striking sequence of sheared mafics, ultramafics and deeply-weathered felsic volcanics forming a lensoid-shaped inclusion in surrounding granitoid lithologies.
Outcrop within the area is limited to a 2km-long ridge to the southwest of the tenement with a thin blanket of transported material covering the rest of the area.
Historic mining
Historic gold mining at Rabbit Bore featured a small vertical shaft, four pits and a dry blowing area.
Sampling around these workings produced maximum assays of 4.24 grams per tonne gold, while low-level results were returned from sampling over the extensive cover.
Exploration at Rabbit Bore has been carried out intermittently since the 1970s and limited to mapping and geochemical sampling programs.
There has been historic drilling recorded in or around the licence area.