A project-scale geophysical survey at White Cliff Minerals’ Rae project in Nunavut, Northern Canada has lit up a massive vein hosted conductive anomaly called Stark that stretches over 14km long by 2.2km wide.
The newly identified target sits adjacent to the Herb Dixon Fault that is well-known for high-grade copper mineralisation.
The fault is also the controlling structure for two of the company’s other targets. The Hulk sediment hosted copper prospect lies at the northern end of the fault and the Vision prospect lies further south. Vision recorded multiple rock chip assays going more than 50 per cent and up to 64 per cent.
An additional new conductor was also picked up west of Hulk, known as West – Target D as a vein hosted structure which now pushes the extent of the total Hulk prospect to 10.5km by 23km long.
At White Cliff’s Halo target in the southeast of the Rae project, the geophysical survey picked up a conductive response measuring 2.7km in strike length. The findings have significantly increased the size of a prospect that had previously only been defined at surface with rock chip samples, some of which graded higher than 54 per cent.
Previous fieldwork at Halo revealed much of the copper mineralisation sits within surface-level basalts and sediments. With those assays also lining up with the Mobile MT electromagnetic survey, the company believes there is still plenty of scope to find more conductive targets at the prospect.
But it is the repeat interaction between the regional fault systems - particularly the Herb Dixon fault - and the new plate conductors which has piqued the company’s interest. According to management, it is the close connection between the two that has given it confidence that its exploration efforts are on the right track.
White Cliff Minerals managing director Troy Whittaker said: “These airborne geophysical results have revealed kilometre scale conductive signals which seem to be constrained to the interpreted dimensions and structures of the regional fault networks. These large-scale vein system targets are unique in that they provide super high-grade copper targets and a major conduit of hydrothermal copper fluids; seeing the entire Herb Dixon fault in this regard and its connection into the sedimentary structures at Hulk is very exciting.”
Plans are now underway to conduct additional field investigations alongside the initial drilling campaign at Rae, with mobilisation activities expected to begin in the first quarter of 2025.
With an ambitious exploration campaign planned for 2025, the company will run a dual approach of drilling and further ground sampling and prospecting to check out the promising vein system targets spotted in the magnetic and conductivity data.
The prospectivity of the Rae copper project has long appealed to White Cliff, given the rich history of copper discovery and its use by the local Inuit dating back centuries. Later discoveries by 17th century prospectors who reported finding huge individual copper nuggets at surface - one reportedly weighing in at two kilograms - have only enhanced the project’s allure.
It seems slightly unusual therefore, with all the evidence of copper, that White Cliff should be among the first to do project-scale geophysical and aeromagnetic surveys across its leases. Given the early indications, the surveys are already throwing up a plethora of enticing targets which begs the question: Exactly how many more are yet to be discovered?
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