THE DRILL SERGEANT: Corazon Mining (ASX: CZN) has completed a detailed ground gravity survey at the company’s Top Up Rise project in Western Australia, which has confirmed the TUR gravity feature as a significant geophysical anomaly.

The defined size of the anomaly has increased, to now cover an area measuring 10 kilometres by 6 kilometres under sand cover on the edge of the Gibson Desert.

Corazon said its interpretation of the geophysical data suggests:

–    The gravity anomaly appears fault bounded and structurally controlled;

–    There is no correlation between gravity highs and magnetic trends. Gravity highs may both conform to or cross-cut geological features interpreted from the magnetics;

–    The gravity anomaly extends to the west and overlaps a major magnetic feature;

–    The highest residual gravity anomalies are located in magnetic lows and/or interpreted faults; and

–    Target depths are variable; it is expected both shallow (immediately under the cover of sand-dunes) and deeper drill targets will be tested.

Left – Residual bouguer gravity image over aeromagnetic shadow. Right – Aeromagnetic image. Source: Company announcement

“We are extremely happy with the results of the detailed gravity survey,” Corazon Mining managing director Brett Smith said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“It’s added significant definition to a large featureless geophysical anomaly.

“Amplitudes of this magnitude are seldom seen, and we’re excited to be drilling this large target next month.

“The fact that parts of the anomaly can be tested quite easily, with inexpensive drilling techniques, is an enormous bonus.”

Corazon is currently preparing for the inaugural drilling program at Top Up Rise with heritage and work program clearances in progress.

Site access and the re-establishment of old exploration tracks have been initiated by the traditional owners, the Tjamu Tjamu Aboriginal Corporation.

The company has secured a drilling rig with the capacity for aircore (shallow soft-sediment drilling), reverse circulation (to 300m) and core drilling (to 1,100m).

All three methods of drilling are expected to be utilized during the drilling program, which is scheduled to commence in May.

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Investigator Resources (ASX: IVR) has defined new silver targets near the company’s Paris silver prospect, located on the Eyre Peninsula, South Australia.

The most encouraging of these is described by the company as ‘The large Alexander target’ (2.5km x 400m).

Investigator consider Alexander to be a likely offset extension of the nearby Paris silver prospect, which is currently being drilled for inclusion of a pending resource estimation.

The Alexander target is situated two kilometres west of the Paris silver prospect and is about three times larger in area than the same signature for Paris.

According to Investigator it has a similar shape, northwest orientation and silver-in-soil levels as the Paris soil target as well as possessing strong support from other anomalous metals giving it potential to be a genuine bedrock target.

The company has also identified the Helen East target, which it explained to be an extension of the Helen prospect where scout drilling intersected silver and lead mineralisation early in 2012.

The Paris silver prospect and the new silver targets are within the Peterlumbo Joint Venture tenement (75 per cent Investigator).

Geological framework and target plan, Peterlumbo field showing the
locations of the new targets at Alexander and Helen East. Source:
Company announcement

“Investigator’s soil sampling approach continues to produce outstanding new silver targets across the Eyre Peninsula,” Investigator Resources managing director John Anderson said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“These are building on the initial Paris silver discovery in 2011.

“The new Alexander target is an excellent addition adjacent to Paris and joins the recent Hector target as showing potential to be larger silver targets than Paris.

“These are prioritised as our ‘Paris-Plus’ targets.

“The new results are extremely pleasing for our team as these indicate Investigator’s real potential to capitalise and expand on our early successes.

“We look forward to drilling the new targets at the first opportunity later in 2013.”

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Drilling being conducted by recently-listed Tungsten Mining (ASX: TGN) continues to intersect high-grade tungsten mineralisation at the company’s Kilba project in the Gascoyne Region of Western Australia.

To date the company has drilled 24 diamond holes and 43 reverse circulation (RC) holes for intersections including:

–    4 metres at 2.41 per cent tungsten from 54 metres;

–    1.5m at 1.8 per cent tungsten from 36.3m;

–     10.2m at 0.86 per cent tungsten from 48.8m; and

–    8.7m at 0.41 per cent tungsten from 76.5m.

Plan showing location of stronger zones of mineralisation intersected by recent drilling. Source: Company announcement

Tungsten Mining commenced drilling at the Kilba project in November 2012 with the aim of confirming the presence of high-grade tungsten mineralisation, which had been identified by historic drilling completed by Union Carbide Corporation in the 1970s and 1980s.

Current drilling being carried out by the company is targeting Zone 11 located on its 100 per cent-owned and granted Mining Lease.

Exploration has completed an 80m by 40m spaced drill pattern over the main 900m of outcropping mineralisation at Zone 11.

Broader spaced drilling has also tested strike extensions on 80m to 160m spaced sections, for a further 300m.
 
“The excellent high-grade results received from the drilling confirms the company’s belief in the Kilba project and justifies its focus on the rapid evaluation and development of the Kilba project,” Tungsten Mining managing director Paul Berndt said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securiteis Exchange.

“To this end the company has engaged CSA Global to model mineralisation present at Zone 11 with the objective of producing a JORC-compliant Resource by May.”

“We are on target to create significant project value at Kilba, by completing a feasibility study within a year.”

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Image Resources (ASX: IMA) has delivered a higher grade resource extension at the Boonanarring heavy mineral (HM) deposit, located 90km north of Perth, which forms part of the company’s North Perth Basin mineral sands project.
 
Image said recent drilling has confirmed an extension of the Boonanarring deposit resulting in an additional JORC Indicated Resource at Block A of:

–    1.36 million tonnes at 18.2 per cent HM , containing 243,000 tonnes of HM at a 2.5 per cent HM cut-off.

An additional Inferred Resource of 750,000 tonnes at 10.6 per cent HM containing 79,000 tonnes of HM has also been defined.

Image indicated that at 15.4 per cent HM, the overall resource in Block A is double the HM grade of the previously released resources for Blocks B, C and D, which average 7.5 per cent HM at the same cut-off.

The company claims grades for Blocks B, C and D are already higher than most mineral sand deposits.

Image said Block A also has encouraging zircon credits, with zircon grade averaging 25.9 per cent of the HM, compared to an average of 19.6 per cent for Blocks B, C and D.

Boonanarring exploration targets and drilling April 2013. Source: Company announcement

“Given Image’s track record to date in converting early ground magnetics results into high-grade mineral sands JORC resources, this result is not unexpected,” Image Resources managing director Peter Davies said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

However, the grade of the JORC resources in Block A is far higher than we predicted and this adds further to our confidence in the potential of the Boonanarring project. ”

This discovery brings the currently defined Boonanarring total JORC Resources to:

–    20.9 million tonnes at 8.3 per cent HM containing 1.7 million tonnes of HM at a 2.5 per cent HM cut-off.

The company considers the average 85 per cent Valuable Heavy Mineral (VHM) content of the HM to be a highly-positive attribute for the resource, as it increases the overall Boonanarring VHM content to 79 per cent of the HM.

“It is also encouraging to see the expansion of the exploration efforts into areas of Bidaminna and north of Boonanarring which have potential to add significantly to the company’s resources portfolio” Davies said.

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Hannans Reward (ASX: HNR) has received assay results from the last of the historic copper-gold intercepts from profiles 2 and 3 from the Central Orebody at the company’s 100 per cent-owned Pahtohavare project located in northern Sweden.

Hannans initial data interpretation has been focused on the Central Orebody, one of three orebodies within the Pahtohavare project.

Results included:

–    33 metres at 4.99 per cent copper and 5.84 grams per tonne gold from 6 metres, including 14.3 metres at 10.4 per cent copper and 13.3 grams per tonne gold;

–    23.6m at 3.8 per cent copper from 3.5m, including 2.95m at 26.9 per cent copper and 6.2 g/t gold; and

–    24.55m at 2.19 per cent copper and 0.54g/t gold from 62.45m, including 4.07m at 7.4 per cent copper and 1.2g/t gold.

According to the company the recently-analysed drill intercepts have highlighted broad, shallow zones of copper-gold mineralisation.

Historic drilling intercepts at Central Orebody. Source: Company announcement

Hannans has now validated all eight drill profiles from the Central Orebody, from which it says it has gained a much better understanding of the geology and controls on mineralisation, although the company also admitted further work is still required to fully understand the complexities of Pahtohavare project.

Drill planning and permitting is now underway for the Central Orebody where drilling will consist of both RC percussion drilling and diamond drilling.

Hannans said its focus would now shift to the data interpretation and validation from historical works at both the Southern and South-Eastern orebodies as well as the Eastern Zone where some 201 holes were drilled.

The Pahtohavare project is located eight kilometres south-west of Kiruna in northern Sweden, approximately 1,200 kilometres north Stockholm.

Copper mineralisation was first discovered at Pahtohavare in 1984 by the state-owned exploration company Swedish Geological AB and later mined by Finnish mining company, Outokumpu in 1984.

Three deposits were defined at Pahtohavare:

–    Central (oxide, carbonate and sulphide ore);

–    Southern (sulphide ore); and

–    South-Eastern (sulphide ore).

The combined JORC exploration target for Pahtohavare – incorporating the Central, Southern, South-Eastern and Eastern Zones is 4.8 to 6.2 million tonnes at 2 to 2.78 per cent copper and 1.23 to 2.23 grams per tonne gold.