Active minerals sands miner, Image Resources, may have found a new, 40 kilometre long shoreline trend running to the west of and parallel to its current, zircon-rich Boonanarring heavy minerals, or “HM”, ore reserves in Western Australia.
The ASX listed company has been busy with the drill rig throughout 2019 as it goes about upgrading Boonanarring’s proven reserves of 9.3 million tonnes at 8.6% HM and its probable reserves of 10.5Mt at 5.9% HM.
Image is confident the newly discovered shoreline trend extends up to 40km from the south of the rural town of Gingin to the north of its Boonanarring Northern Extension Area, or “NEA”, where drilling has returned impressive assays like 8 metres at 16.7% HM from 24m and 4m at 22.8% HM from 28m.
This trend also covers previously identified mineralisation in both the western sections of Image’s Gingin South and Gingin North project areas and potentially the company’s recently discovered Boonanarring West prospect.
During 2019, Image completed a 94 hole, 2,460 metre drilling campaign in the northern section of the strandline that identified two new mineralised strands.
A detailed 100m spaced ground magnetic survey was also conducted to help map these strands in detail before the company embarks on the 70 hole, 2,100m infill drilling program that is planned for 2020.
Preliminary drilling results included the above-mentioned 2m at 17.6% HM from 16m, 6m at 5.6% HM from 15m and 9m at 4.2% HM from 14m.
A further 528 hole, 13,326m drill program targeting the most promising areas so far identified along the 40km shoreline trend is also planned.
Earlier this year a 578 hole infill drill program totalling 24,642m resulted in the generation of nearly 10,000 assays from Blocks A,B,C and D of the Boonanarring Ore reserves, which in turn helped define a 5km long high-grade core.
Image is currently evaluating the extensions of this rich core mainly to the north of the NEA, but also to its south.
Subject to approvals, it is now planning a roadside drilling program of 129 holes totalling 5,160m and another 172 hole, 6,880m program just east of the Brand Highway.
The new program should help clarify the extent of the high grade core across the full extent of the NEA on the mineralised trend towards Image’s Red Gully deposit, which starts 3-4 km north of the Northern Extension.
This prospective high grade shoreline, starting from Red Gully in the north, that travels through the Boonanarring deposit before ending at Gingin North, is 32km long.
Boonanarring, which is located 80km north of Perth in the prospective North Perth Basin, has a current mine life of five years but with the newly identified trend and other near mine opportunities this is clearly like an initial mine life.
With the help of the drill rig, Image is now confident it can find at least another three to four years’ worth of ore reserves on its 1,000 square kilometre land holding.
The mine currently produces an average of 240,000t of heavy mineral concentrate annually, with 60,000t being zircon, 130,000t ilmenite, 6,000t rutile and 4,000t leucoxene.
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By Matt Birney
