Things are starting to get interesting for junior exploration company, Oar Resources. The company has just identified the presence of ultramafic rocks at its wholly owned polymetallic Crown project containing platinum group elements, or “PGE’s” just 8 kilometres west of Chalice Mining’s celebrated Julimar discovery in Western Australia. Assay results from 74 rock chip samples collected at the greenfields project are due soon.
Oar is systematically exploring its recently acquired Crown tenure as it looks to pinpoint targets for drill testing. Early indications from an initial mapping and outcrop rock chip sampling program appear to bode well for the company.
The company reports petrological analysis of numerous samples collected as part of the sampling program identified fine disseminated sulphides, including pyrite and copper sulphide, believed by Oar to be magmatic in origin.
Multiple magnetic features deemed to be prospective for nickel, copper-PGE and gold mineralisation have previously been identified by Oar at the 93 square kilometre project tenure.
Oar says the presence of copper sulphides, in what are interpreted to be ultramafic rocks, shines a light on the project’s potential and also confirms initial field observations at the project.
According to the company, the petrological sample analysis indicates the geological setting at Crown is highly prospective for discovery of nickel, copper and PGE mineralisation.
Assay results from 74 samples taken in the central and northern parts of the tenure are pending.
Oar Resources General Manager of Geology, Tony Greenaway said: “It is very pleasing to see that our initial field observations are backed up by the petrological work, confirming the presence of our target ultramafic lithologies in the area. It was also encouraging to see the petrology picking out the copper sulphide chalcopyrite in a few of the samples. While these are logged as trace amounts, we can now confirm that there is copper in the system.”
The 100 per cent owned Crown tenure lies just a stone’s throw away from Chalice’s “world-class” Gonneville discovery in the Julimar district, hosted in a layered mafic-ultramafic complex.
Chalice has been the talk of the town since the discovery hole at Gonneville, last year returned 19 metres at 2.6 per cent nickel, 1 per cent copper, 8.4 grams per tonne palladium and 1.1 g/t platinum from 48m, sending Chalice’s share price soaring from under $0.20 to more than $9 post-discovery.
It believes the geophysical trends at Crown represent rock sequences similar to Chalice’s discovery.
Oar reports it has now also secured a land access agreement for an area in the southern end of the Crown tenure. Previous geological and structural interpretation of regional magnetic data by independent company consultant Southern Geoscience identified the area as a high priority target.
The company is wasting little time in getting its boots dusty as it launches a systematic soil sampling and outcrop mapping campaign over the target area, projected to be concluded in the coming weeks.
It would seem Oar is quickly emerging as an explorer to keep a close eye on having unveiled the presence of the target ultramafic rocks at Crown. The company is well placed for a stellar year’s end if it can add to the sniffs of copper sulphides the project is now known to host - located in one of the hottest exploration regions in Australia.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Matt Birney
