For personal use only - ASX · 2017. 8. 4. · Corvo Trend. For personal use only. Auroch Minerals...

6
Auroch Minerals Ltd ABN 91 148 966 545 Unit 5, Ground Floor, 1 Centro Ave, Subiaco WA 6008 Phone: +61 8 9486 4036 Fax: + 61 8 9486 4799 PO Box 510 Subiaco WA 6904 Email: [email protected] www.aurochminerals.com.au 4 July 2017 Market Announcements Platform ASX Limited Exchange Centre 20 Bridge Street Sydney NSW 2000 Alcoutim Cu-Zn Portugal – Drilling and Technical Update Highlights Access to historical data and drilling across the Alcoutim licence. o Drill core being relogged and located. VSC stratigraphy confirmed. o 27 samples taken for multi element analysis. ALFP002 - reached a depth of 1088m. Down hole EM underway - results expected shortly. ALFP003 – drilling to commence August 6 th between Foupana magnetic anomaly and supergiant Neves Corvo Cu-Zn mine. o Targeting for hole three combines the geological and geophysical elements that led to the discovery of Neves Corvo. 22 potential targets identified by geological team and together with historical data provides further confidence for the potential of the Alcoutim licence to host economic VMS orebodies Background Auroch is exploring for high-grade Copper Zinc deposits in the Iberian Pyrite Belt (IPB), one of the premier mining districts on the planet, an amazing geological Province that hosts over 80 mines and with a history of mining that goes back to the Roman Age. The IPB is the original home of the Rio Tinto Company which was floated on the London Stock Exchange in the 1870’s to commence mining copper at the village of Rio Tinto in Spain. Over one hundred and fifty years later the mine is still in production (operated by Atalaya Mining) boasting past production and current reserves well in excess of 200 Mt. The Alcoutim licence is over 600km 2 and represents prime exploration ground immediately east of Neves Corvo. Auroch’s Phase 1 exploration is underway, drill testing a series of targets that represent a combination of geology, gravity, Electro Magnetic (EM) and magnetic anomalies along the Neves Corvo Trend. For personal use only

Transcript of For personal use only - ASX · 2017. 8. 4. · Corvo Trend. For personal use only. Auroch Minerals...

Page 1: For personal use only - ASX · 2017. 8. 4. · Corvo Trend. For personal use only. Auroch Minerals Ltd ABN 91 148 966 545 Unit 5, Ground Floor, ... mineralisation in the Neves Formation

Auroch Minerals Ltd ABN 91 148 966 545 Unit 5, Ground Floor, 1 Centro Ave, Subiaco WA 6008 Phone: +61 8 9486 4036 Fax: + 61 8 9486 4799 PO Box 510 Subiaco WA 6904 Email: [email protected] www.aurochminerals.com.au

4 July 2017 Market Announcements Platform ASX Limited Exchange Centre 20 Bridge Street Sydney NSW 2000

Alcoutim Cu-Zn Portugal – Drilling and Technical Update

Highlights • Access to historical data and drilling across the Alcoutim licence.

o Drill core being relogged and located. VSC stratigraphy confirmed.

o 27 samples taken for multi element analysis.

• ALFP002 - reached a depth of 1088m. Down hole EM underway - results expected shortly.

• ALFP003 – drilling to commence August 6th between Foupana magnetic anomaly and supergiant Neves Corvo Cu-Zn mine.

o Targeting for hole three combines the geological and geophysical elements that led to the discovery of Neves Corvo.

• 22 potential targets identified by geological team and together with historical data provides further confidence for the potential of the Alcoutim licence to host economic VMS orebodies

Background Auroch is exploring for high-grade Copper Zinc deposits in the Iberian Pyrite Belt (IPB), one of the premier mining districts on the planet, an amazing geological Province that hosts over 80 mines and with a history of mining that goes back to the Roman Age. The IPB is the original home of the Rio Tinto Company which was floated on the London Stock Exchange in the 1870’s to commence mining copper at the village of Rio Tinto in Spain. Over one hundred and fifty years later the mine is still in production (operated by Atalaya Mining) boasting past production and current reserves well in excess of 200 Mt. The Alcoutim licence is over 600km2 and represents prime exploration ground immediately east of Neves Corvo. Auroch’s Phase 1 exploration is underway, drill testing a series of targets that represent a combination of geology, gravity, Electro Magnetic (EM) and magnetic anomalies along the Neves Corvo Trend.

For

per

sona

l use

onl

y

Page 2: For personal use only - ASX · 2017. 8. 4. · Corvo Trend. For personal use only. Auroch Minerals Ltd ABN 91 148 966 545 Unit 5, Ground Floor, ... mineralisation in the Neves Formation

Auroch Minerals Ltd ABN 91 148 966 545 Unit 5, Ground Floor, 1 Centro Ave, Subiaco WA 6008 Phone: +61 8 9486 4036 Fax: + 61 8 9486 4799 PO Box 510 Subiaco WA 6904 Email: [email protected] www.aurochminerals.com.au

Hole ALFP 002 Hole ALFP002 Aurochs second hole into the Foupana Magnetic anomaly of the Neves Corvo trend has been halted at 1088m in a sequence of submarine pillow lavas that form part of the Volcanic Sedimentary Complex (VSC). Intersecting the VSC is a crucial first step towards discovery as this is the target stratigraphy where all ore deposits are hosted within the belt. The hole intersected a thick pile of mafic-basaltic lavas from 830m through to the end of hole. Preliminary analysis suggests these are strongly magnetic and are the source of the Foupana Magnetic anomaly, importantly they are also a large volcanic heat engine to drive the ore forming process. Downhole EM measurements are currently underway and results will be released to the market as available.

Planning for Alcoutim Hole - ALFP003 The third borehole of drilling Phase 1 is positioned between the Foupana magnetic anomaly and the Neves Corvo supergiant deposit on the Neves-Corvo-Trend see figures 3 & 4. The Neves-Corvo-Trend is characterised by submarine volcanic centres and adjacent black shale basins of the Neves Formation. The current Auroch Hole has (ALFP002) confirmed the enormous volcanic intensity of the Foupana magmatic centre with hundreds of meters of submarine volcanics. This kind of magmatic activity is the key driving force for the mineralisation processes in the Iberian Pyrite Belt. The hole 3 target combines the key geological and geophysical elements which led to the discovery of Neves Corvo: coincident gravity and electromagnetic anomalies on the Neves-Corvo-Trend. The borehole targets black shales of the Neves Formation at 700 to 800 metres depth. Intense sulphide mineralisation in the Neves Formation is expected based on clearly positive signals from two different types of electromagnetic surveys (ground EM and AMT). In addition, a coincident large gravity anomaly confirms the prospectivity of the drill target.

Project Location

For

per

sona

l use

onl

y

Page 3: For personal use only - ASX · 2017. 8. 4. · Corvo Trend. For personal use only. Auroch Minerals Ltd ABN 91 148 966 545 Unit 5, Ground Floor, ... mineralisation in the Neves Formation

Auroch Minerals Ltd ABN 91 148 966 545 Unit 5, Ground Floor, 1 Centro Ave, Subiaco WA 6008 Phone: +61 8 9486 4036 Fax: + 61 8 9486 4799 PO Box 510 Subiaco WA 6904 Email: [email protected] www.aurochminerals.com.au

Exploration Targeting at Alcoutim Geology The exploration target for Auroch’s drilling are Massive Sulphides and Stringer Sulphides associated with VMS style mineralisation within the Iberian Pyrite Belt. There have been over 80 individual ore deposits mined within the IPB within Spain and Portugal and consequently there is significant data on the geological setting of Auroch’s target. Auroch’s initial targets lie along the Neves Corvo trend along strike from the Super Giant Neves Corvo mine operated by Lundin Mining.

All of the current Alcoutim targets are hidden beneath the Carboniferous sediments of the Baixo Alentejano Flysch Group, a thick unit of interbedded shales and siltstones and wackes that are younger than the IPB mineralisation and overlie it (Figure 2). We have to drill through the Flysch to get to the target zone.

Figure 2. Stratigraphic column from Neves Corvo.

Source: Key Elements for Mineral Exploration Success: an Example from Neves Corvo, Portugal Chile Explorer Conference 2015

Location sketch for Land of Giants Project highlighting major gravityc anomalies and the vital Neves Corvo Trend – Also highlighted are the major gravity anomalies that will be the focus of the initial drill testing. Note the presence of several small oxide copper deposits to the south west of the main gravity targets and the similarity to the situation at Neves Corvo.

The red circle indicates Auroch area of initial focus along the Neves Corvo trend

For

per

sona

l use

onl

y

Page 4: For personal use only - ASX · 2017. 8. 4. · Corvo Trend. For personal use only. Auroch Minerals Ltd ABN 91 148 966 545 Unit 5, Ground Floor, ... mineralisation in the Neves Formation

Auroch Minerals Ltd ABN 91 148 966 545 Unit 5, Ground Floor, 1 Centro Ave, Subiaco WA 6008 Phone: +61 8 9486 4036 Fax: + 61 8 9486 4799 PO Box 510 Subiaco WA 6904 Email: [email protected] www.aurochminerals.com.au

In the current phase of exploration, the initial target is the Volcano-Sedimentary Complex (VSC) which is a sequence of bi-modal volcanics (rhyolites and basalts) interbedded with fine grained sedimentary rocks. It is the volcanic rocks of the VCS that provide the heat engine to drive the VMS mineralisation and they are a crucial parameter for the exploration. At Neves Corvo the VSC is strongly faulted and folded adding significant complication to the structure of the ore deposit and thus exploration work. The orebodies at Neves occur towards the upper portion of the VSC but this is not always the case in other IPB examples.

Geophysics - Gravity Gravity data are an important tool in the exploration for VMS deposits and particularly for massive sulphide deposits because the accumulation of base metal sulphides is so significant to locally disturb the Earth’s gravity field. The underlying cause of the gravity anomalies are the high specific gravities of sulphide minerals such as pyrite 5.0 g/cm3 and galena 7.4 g/cm3 when compared to silicate rocks (such as the overlying Flysch sequence) which have specific gravities in the range on 2.6 -2.8 g/cm3. This means a massive sulphide orebody can weigh as much as two to three times more than the same volume of silicate rock and therefore generating a “gravity anomaly” where the Earth’s gravity is locally strengthened. We can use these anomalies to target potential massive sulphides at depth.

Figure 3. The regional Bouguer anomaly of the Neves Corvo trend from the Neves Corvo mine and into the Auroch Alcoutim licence - shown with red outline. Note the presence of significant gravity anomalies (red colours) both along the Neves Corvo trend and in the northern part of the Alcoutim licence. This figure is taken from Carvalho et al. 2016 and highlights six seismic profiles where data was collected to build a 3D model of the geology between Neves and Alcoutim. Numbered white boxes show the position of the first three holes in the current exploration plan – hole 1 is complete, hole 2 underway and hole 3 is planned.

1 2

3

For

per

sona

l use

onl

y

Page 5: For personal use only - ASX · 2017. 8. 4. · Corvo Trend. For personal use only. Auroch Minerals Ltd ABN 91 148 966 545 Unit 5, Ground Floor, ... mineralisation in the Neves Formation

Auroch Minerals Ltd ABN 91 148 966 545 Unit 5, Ground Floor, 1 Centro Ave, Subiaco WA 6008 Phone: +61 8 9486 4036 Fax: + 61 8 9486 4799 PO Box 510 Subiaco WA 6904 Email: [email protected] www.aurochminerals.com.au

Geophysics – Magnetics Volcanic rocks play a crucial role in the formation of VMS deposits as it is the volcanism that provides the heat engine to drive the hydrothermal cells that create the mineralisation. Within the Alcoutim licence there is a major magnetic anomaly known as the Foupana Magnetic Anomaly that is clearly a major volcanic centre. This volcanic centre remains one of main target areas for our exploration

Geophysics – EM Electro Magnetic (EM) methods can be used in mineral exploration to help locate a wide variety of mineral deposits, especially base metal sulphides via detection of conductivity anomalies which are generated around sulphide bodies and detected at surface. The EM data for the Alcoutim licence is a particular subset of the EM method known as Audio Magneto Telluric (AMT) collected by Billiton Portuguesa in 1986 and predates the use of computer generated images of the anomalies. Figure 5 shows a hand contoured map highlighting the main EM anomalies (purple-red) that are a key parameter for drill targets in the current exploration drilling phase.

Figure 4. Total Magnetic intensity -reduced to pole within the Alcoutim Licence

Note the very strong Foupana Magnetic Anomaly in the east of the licence directly along the Neves Corvo trend and associated with significant EM and Gravity anomalies.

Numbered white boxes show the position of the first three holes in the current exploration plan – hole 1 is complete, hole 2 underway and hole 3 is planned.

Figure 5. Hand contoured EM (AMT) anomaly map overlayed on Google Earth Imagery

As in all figures there is a strong series of anomalies along the Neves Corvo trend.

Note the main EM anomalies lie to the west of the Foupana Magnetic anomaly which supports the interpretation that this is a volcanic centre and potential orebodies may occur adjacent to the centre rather than within it.

Also of significance are the isolated EM anomalies in the North of the licence that require further follow up in phase 2 exploration.

3

2 1

For

per

sona

l use

onl

y

Page 6: For personal use only - ASX · 2017. 8. 4. · Corvo Trend. For personal use only. Auroch Minerals Ltd ABN 91 148 966 545 Unit 5, Ground Floor, ... mineralisation in the Neves Formation

Auroch Minerals Ltd ABN 91 148 966 545 Unit 5, Ground Floor, 1 Centro Ave, Subiaco WA 6008 Phone: +61 8 9486 4036 Fax: + 61 8 9486 4799 PO Box 510 Subiaco WA 6904 Email: [email protected] www.aurochminerals.com.au

Re-logging and sampling of historic diamond drill holes Eight (8) historic drill holes drilled by Billiton and Somincor between 1990 and 2008 were located in various core sheds and relocated to the Portugal Geologic Survey (LNEG) storage and logging facility in Aljustrel. Auroch geologists re-logged the drill core and confirmed the presence the VSC stratigraphy and noted the similarities between the geology present on the Alcoutim license and the geological sequences observed at Neves Corvo. A total of 27 samples were taken for multiple analysis including: gold (Fire Assay), multi-element suite (51 elements by ICP-MS/AES), and whole rock main element analysis (XRF). The samples will be submitted to ALS Laboratory in Spain and results are expected in 3-4 weeks. Of particular interest will be the whole rock geochemistry. These results will allow calculation of several 'alteration indexes' which will be used as a vector to ore, and will be incorporated into the geologic model to drive exploration towards discovery. For further information visit www.aurochminerals.com or contact:

Auroch Minerals Limited Dr Andrew Tunks Glenn Whiddon CEO Chairman T: +61 8 9486 4036 T: +61 8 9486 4036 Competent Persons Statement The information in this report that relates to Exploration Results is based on information compiled by Dr. Andrew Tunks and represents an accurate representation of the available data. Dr. Tunks (Member Australian Institute Geoscientists) is the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the ‘Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Resu lts, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves’. Dr Tunks consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.

For

per

sona

l use

onl

y