TIDMEEE
RNS Number : 5077J
Empire Metals Limited
13 December 2022
Empire Metals Limited / LON : EEE / Sector: Natural
Resources
13 December 2022
Empire Metals Limited
("Empire " or "the Company")
Exploration Licence Area Expanded to cover the Potential "Giant"
Copper Province at Pitfield
Empire Metals Limited (LON: EEE), the AIM-quoted resource
exploration and development company, is pleased to announce an
expansion of the exploration camp at the Pitfield Copper Project
('Pitfield'), located in Western Australia, with the addition of
two new Exploration Licence Applications covering extensions to the
north and south of the massive alteration footprint previously
announced by the Company. This is an important step for the Company
which will provide additional exploration targets across what
potentially could be a "Giant" copper mineralised system.
Highlights
-- Pitfield has the potential to contain multiple
sediment-hosted stratabound copper (SSC) deposits lying within what
may be a "Giant" copper mineralised system.
-- A regionally extensive geophysical anomaly has been outlined
over 40km N-S by three different physical properties; density,
conductivity and magnetic susceptibility, likely caused by a
massive, basin-scale alteration event.
-- Empire currently holds the two Exploration Licences, covering
615km(2) , which extend over this massive alteration footprint and
has applied for an additional two Exploration Licences covering a
further 426.7 km(2) .
-- Exploration field work, including soil sampling, geological
mapping has commenced, and these activities will continue in Q1
2023 ahead of an intended drill programme to evaluate the economic
significance of any SSC deposit.
Shaun Bunn, Managing Director, said: "Recent geophysical surveys
and geochemical mapping has identified a massive quartz-magnetite
alteration footprint, extending over 40km N-S, with indications
that the associated copper anomalisms may extend even further north
and south. Securing these additional exploration licences to the
north and south at Pitfield is a major coup for the Company,
ensuring that we have maximum coverage over what we believe is an
emerging Giant copper province, potentially containing multiple SSC
deposits.
"We have just completed the first stage of field work at
Pitfield with over 400 soil and rock chip samples collected and
being submitted for assay. Geological surface mapping indicated
extensive magnetite occurrence, particularly within the Mt Scratch
siltstones, which is another important indicator of a massive
thermal alteration event that potentially led to the formation of
numerous SSC deposits."
Pitfield Project Area and Key Features
Pitfield is located near Three Springs, a town 313 kilometres
north of Perth, Western Australia on the Midlands Road, which until
the opening of the Brand Highway in 1975 was the main road route
from Perth to the state's north. (refer Figure 1).
Empire holds a 70% interest in Pitfield and has established a
separate unincorporated joint venture ( 'JV' ) for prospecting,
exploration and such other activities with the original vendor
Century Minerals Pty Ltd ( 'Century' ) who hold the remaining 30%.
Pitfield was initially comprised of two granted Exploration
Licences (E70/5465 and E70/5876) covering 615 sq km. The
Empire-Century JV has applied for two additional Exploration
Licences (E70/6320 and E70/6323) which will extend the exploration
camp by an additional 426.7km(2) (refer Figure 2).
Figure 1. Pitfield Project Location Figure 2. Pitfield Tenements
Pitfield lies at a unique setting along the boundary of Western
Yilgarn province, where a major craton-scale structure internal to
Southwest Gneiss province intersects and offsets the Yilgarn margin
and controls the position of the Neoproterozoic Yandanooka basin,
the only example of this globally important copper prospective age
adjacent to the western Yilgarn craton.
The Neoproterozoic is a globally important copper mineralisation
era, which includes the copper belt of southern Africa (DRC, Zambia
and Namibia), and the highly mineralised Paterson province in the
north of Western Australia, host to major Cu-Au deposits such as
Telfer, Winu and Havieron. Both are of similar age to the
Yandanooka basin sequence.
Pitfield has all the hallmarks of a "Giant" copper mineralised
system, potentially containing multiple sediment-hosted stratabound
copper (SSC) deposits. Multiple historic high grade copper mines
and prospects occur in the basin including the Baxters, Arrino, Mt
Muggawa, and Mt Scratch copper mines.
Airborne Electromagentic ( 'AEM' ) and Airborne Magnetic ( 'AM'
) surveys at Pitfield have outlined exceptionally large and
coincident gravity, electromagnetic and magnetic anomalies,
extending over 40km N-S (refer Figure 3). These are interpreted as
a basin-scale hydrothermal alteration event that involved the
formation of copper mineralisation. A regional quartz-magnetite
alteration event would explain these coincident geophysical
anomalies, and be consistent with SSC type copper deposits formed
during same event.
Figure 3. Gravity-electromagnetic and magnetic anomalies at
Pitfield.
The AEM survey identified a suite of highly conductive rocks
within the Mt Scratch siltstone surrounding this massive
gravity-electromagnetic-magnetic anomaly, which indicates the
presence of conductive reductants such as graphite which make this
regional siltstone an excellent host rock for copper sulphide
deposits.
Widespread copper ( 'Cu' ), silver ( 'Ag' ), nickel ( 'Ni' ) and
zinc ( 'Zn' ) anomalism has already been identified over large
parts of the Yandanooka basin by previous explorers, particularly
in association with magnetite-altered rocks. For example, CRA
(1993) completed IP geophysics and auger sampling defining a +7km
Cu-in auger anomaly (plus Ag) along the western boundary which
remains open to the east and south. CRA also completed soil
sampling in the Mt Scratch area in the north which confirmed a
large Cu-Ag anomaly. Ni is an important pathfinder for SSC deposits
in these weathered conditions as it doesn't tend to remobilise in
the laterites to the same extent as the Cu-Ag-Zn.
BHP (1984) completed IP geophysics, shallow RAB, and four
stratigraphic diamond holes focused along the western contact of
the Yandanooka basin within the basement Mullingarra gneiss, which
were found to be significantly depleted of base metals (including
Cu) indicating these basement rocks are the source of copper and
other metals that have transported to younger rocks within the
basin during a very large hydrothermal event forming
copper-polymetallic geochemical anomalies, prospects and
potentially copper deposits.
Current Exploration Activities and Future Work
A soil programme comprising 1030 sample sites was designed for
the first stage of field work at Pitfield and an initial sampling
was completed on 30 November 2022. As some of the sampling sites
were still under crop they could not be accessed during this field
trip hence a second field campaign is planned in early 2023. So far
to date a total of 397 soil and 18 rock chip samples have been
collected, representing 40% completion.
The sampling sites were largely focused on areas previously
unexplored that were highlighted by the geophysical surveys as
being highly prospective, coinciding with topographic highs where
soil sampling is likely to be most effective (refer Figure 4). The
sampling lines extended over a total of 77 line-kms with samples
collected at 80m spacing along lines and from 5-20cm below surface
using standard industry practices and sieved on site to -200
micron. The samples have been submitted to Intertek, Perth for
multi-element analysis.
Further soil sampling programmes, and an Induced Polarisation
(IP) survey, measuring resistivity, is planned over the coming few
months, ahead of an intended drill programme to evaluate the
economic significance of any SSC deposit.
Figure 4. Geological mapping and soil sampling at Pitfield.
Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure
Certain information contained in this announcement would have
been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of
Regulation (EU) No 596/2014, as incorporated into UK law by the
European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, until the release of this
announcement.
**S**
For further information please visit www.empiremetals.co.uk or contact:
Empire Metals Ltd Tel: 020 7907 9327
Shaun Bunn / Greg Kuenzel
S. P. Angel Corporate Finance LLP Tel: 020 3470 0470
(Nomad & Broker)
Ewan Leggat / Adam Cowl
-------------------
Shard Capital Partners LLP (Joint Tel: 020 7186 9950
Broker)
Damon Heath
-------------------
St Brides Partners Ltd (Financial Tel: 020 7236 1177
PR)
Susie Geliher / Ana Ribeiro / Max
Bennett
-------------------
About Empire Metals Limited
Empire Metals is an AIM-listed (LON: EEE) exploration and
resource development company with a project portfolio comprising
copper and gold interests in Australia and Austria.
The Company's primary focus is the emerging "Giant" copper
mineralised system at the Pitfield Copper Project and the
high-grade Eclipse-Gindalbie Gold Project, both located in Western
Australia.
At Pitfield, a recent expert review and airborne geophysical
surveys have confirmed the project as having all the hallmarks of a
"Giant" copper mineralised system, potentially containing multiple
sediment-hosted stratabound copper (SSC) deposits. The exploration
licence for Pitfield was acquired at the same time as two further
exploration projects, the Walton Copper-Gold Project and the
Stavely Copper-Gold Project, and all three lie within mining
regions well known for world-class and significant copper and/or
gold discoveries.
Empire also holds a portfolio of three precious metals projects
located an historically high-grade gold production region
comprising the Rotgulden, Schonberg and Walchen prospects in
central-southern Austria.
The Board continues to evaluate opportunities through which to
realise the value of its wider portfolio and reviews further assets
which meet the Company's investment criteria.
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