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Australian manganese explorer, Black Canyon Limited (Black Canyon or the Company) (ASX:BCA) is pleased to advise that further to its announcement on March 27 2023 it has now completed the 100% acquisition of granted licence E46/1383 (excluding copper rights as outlined below). This acquisition adds a further 351km² to the Company’s prospective manganese portfolio in the eastern Pilbara. Black Canyon’s tenement coverage further consolidates the prospective manganese enriched shale horizon extending across the Balfour Manganese Field that includes Mineral Resources at Flanagan Bore (BCA 75%) and other Mineral Resources at Balfour South, Sixty Sixer, and the past producing manganese mine of Nicholas Downs which are owned by others (Figure 1).
- Black Canyon has completed the 100% acquisition of granted licence E46/1383 (excluding copper rights)
- The strategic acquisition further expands tenure under BCA exploration control over the Balfour Manganese Field by 351km² to total 1,175km².
- The licence contains several outcropping manganese enriched prospects including a significant and continuous zone of mineralisation extending over 5km at KR1.
- No historic drilling has been completed over the outcropping mineralisation providing an opportunity for Black Canyon to discover and deliver additional Mineral Resources.
- The Company has successfully completed Heritage surveys across the targets and received all other approvals to commence a 5,000 to 10,000m RC drill program.
- Multiple drill targets are now ready to be tested in the coming field season.
Black Canyon’s Executive Director Brendan Cummins said: “Our field teams have been very active over the past few months and completed detailed mapping, surface sampling and successfully concluded Heritage Surveys over key targets across the Balfour Manganese field. Based on the work completed to date and our experience in the area we believe there is high potential to discover and delineate substantial Mineral Resources confirming the manganese endowment of this globally significant region. This is similar to the opportunity at Flanagan Bore where the Company made a significant discovery and rapidly delineated mineral resources. The size and scale of the Balfour Manganese Field and the discoveries to date show considerable promise and the completion of this strategic acquisition complements our existing portfolio and contributes to the Company’s overall growth and development strategy”.
Figure 1. Location of E46/1383, manganese enriched shale horizon (red solid outlines) and distribution of manganese drill targets (the subject of this release) across the tenement portfolio.
Figure 2. Part of the KR1 target comprising an elevated 500m long outcrop of manganese enriched shale within license E46/1383 (looking to the southeast).
Balfour Manganese Field Exploration Drill Program
An initial RC drill program has been designed to drill test several high-quality targets across Black Canyon, 100% owned tenements within the Balfour Manganese Field. Drilling is planned on the following tenements:
1. E46/1383 – at KR1, a previously undrilled 2,500m section of outcropping supergene mineralisation will be drill tested using 200m spaced lines which includes a 900m long section of prominent manganese enriched shale (Figures 2, 3 & 4). At KR2, a previously undrilled subcropping to outcropping 900m long zone of manganese enriched shale will be drill tested.
2. E46/1396 – at the Balfour West target, a 1500m long horizon that is interpreted to be extend from outcropping manganese enriched shales under thin cover will be drill tested. At Balfour East, several wide spaced stratigraphic drill lines are planned to intersect subcropping and thinly covered manganese enriched shales over several kilometres of strike.
3. E46/1404 – at Pickering, a previously undrilled 2,000m long section of the subcropping manganese enriched calcareous shales will be drill tested using 400m spaced lines. The overall length of the Pickering target is 10,000m. At the Damsite prospect, a previously undrilled 500m long subcropping to outcropping zone of manganese enriched shale will be drill tested.
A total of 5,000 to 10,000m of RC drilling is planned for the coming field season across the three tenements with assay results to follow. Refer to ASX announcement 14 February 2023 (Exploration and Manganese Sulphate Update) and 27 March 2023 (Black Canyon acquires strategic tenement within the prospective Balfour Manganese Field) for further information on the drill targets.
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This article includes content from Black Canyon, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
BCA:AU
Fig Tree IP Survey Results
HIGHLIGHTS
- Induced Polarisation (IP) surveys have been completed at Fig Tree targeting hydrothermal manganese mineralisation similar to the high-grade Woodie Woodie manganese mine.
- A Dipole-Dipole IP survey (DDIP) extended over a 1,400m long northwest extension of the HD1 prospect where previous RC drill results included:1
- 7m @ 33.2% Mn from 2m (HADRC017)
- 3m @ 17.0% Mn from surface (HADRC018)
- The DDIP survey detected a number of near surface targets coincident with outcropping manganese mineralisation (34.2% Mn1) and subsurface IP responses interpreted to represent shallow down dip extensions.
- A Gradient Array IP (GAIP) survey, located about 35 km south and along strike of the Woodie Woodie mine was designed to test for mineralisation within an interpreted “Woodie” structural corridor and identified several chargeability anomalies that warrant follow-up
- The Fig Tree IP survey was co-funded to a maximum of $57,875 under the State Government’s 2024-2025 geophysics co-funded Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS).
Surface mapping, sampling and RC drilling completed by previous explorers identified and returned high-grade manganese results from multiple prospects across the Fig Tree tenement which is located 35km south of the Woodie Woodie operations. The IP results have generated a number of targets that require infill geophysical surveys prior to drill testing.
Black Canyon’s Managing Director Brendan Cummins said:
“After the success of discovering large shale-hosted manganese deposits across the Balfour Manganese Field, the Company is now turning some of its attention to exploring for near-surface high grade mineralisation at its Wandanya and Fig Tree projects. Several prospects along the Fig Tree Manganese Trend have been mapped and drilled in the past, establishing the tenement's potential to host higher-grade, hydrothermal-style mineralisation. Its geological similarities to Woodie-Woodie and previous RC drilling have confirmed the prospectivity of the tenement, which is located only 35km south of Woodie-Woodie. Manganese deposits are often associated with chargeability anomalies which can be detected using IP techniques, so we were keen to deploy IP to the area and now have several new targets that warrant follow-up.”
Black Canyon used the high-quality historic exploration datasets at Fig Tree to evaluate the known manganese prospects, and then used this information to generate new IP survey targets. The DDIP survey has confirmed chargeable responses co-incident with outcropping manganese mineralisation and extending down dip. The GAIP surveys have also yielded several large sub- surface chargeable anomalies. Further IP surveys are planned to better resolve the size and strength of these new chargeable anomalies and establish their significance prior to refining potential drill targets in addition to other prospects across the Fig Tree tenement.
Figure 1. LHS - Fig Tree Project areas tenement showing the location of Woodie Woodie and RHS - completed DDIP, GAIP geophysical surveys and historic exploration data.
HW1 Dipole-Dipole IP Survey Results
The DDIP survey was designed to test a 1,400m long zone of subcropping manganese mineralisation along strike from the historic HD1 prospect where rockchip samples and limited RC drilling encountered medium to high grade manganese. The DDIP lines were spaced between 200 and 600m apart along the target horizon providing a cross-strike coverage between 600m and 950m.
Several near-surface chargeable anomalies, coincident with outcropping manganese mineralisation (Figure 2) and subsurface chargeable anomalies were detected with the DDIP survey. The subsurface responses are interpreted to represent shallow down-dip extensions to the surface mineralisation. are estimated to range between 10 to 25m thick from surface to depths of 50m and persist across 4 sections extending over 1,000m of strike (Figure 3) (Appendix 1).
The underlying geology is dominated by ferruginous chert and Pinjian Chert inferred to overlie close to surface Carawine Dolomite. The area is also bisected by a number of northeast and northwest trending faults and fractures. The manganese lenses form isolated subcrops 50 to 100m long and manganese disperses 20 to 40m from the subcrops.
Infill DDIP lines are required to provide more detailed chargeability mapping to resolve the potential strength and continuity of the anomalies. The HW1 target has never been drill tested and subject to further evaluation a drill program can be planned.
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This article includes content from Black Canyon, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
Total Gold Sales in August Generates $6.3 Million. Toll Milling of 150,000 Tonnes Continues.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Second campaign of 2024 produces further cash for Joint Venture.
- Three parcels of gold sold at average of $3,697 per ounce.
- Total gross cash generated to date in this campaign is $10.8 Million.
- Second campaign on target to process 150,000 tonnes.
- On schedule to process 300,000 tonnes at Greenfields Mill in 2024.
- First cash of $3.0 Million to be received by Auric within a month.
MANAGEMENT COMMENT
Managing Director, Mark English, said: “Total gross gold sales for 2024 have now been received by the Joint Venture at just shy of $3,700 an ounce. It’s a very satisfying result and reflects the surging gold price.
“Over the coming month, Jeffreys Find Gold Mine is expected to generate around
$25.0 Million in gross gold sales as 150,000 tonnes gets processed at the mill. Everything is right on target.
“Auric will bank cash within the month - $3.0 Million in total, being an initial $2.0 Million surplus cash distribution from the Joint Venture plus the repayment of $1.0 Million working capital contribution.
“We are now at the midpoint of mining Jeffreys Find. It will perform much better than originally anticipated.
“The mill contract is to process 300,000 tonnes in 2024. This 150,000 tonnes parcel is the largest campaign for the year from Jeffreys Find. This leaves a further additional 120,000 tonnes for milling at Greenfields towards the end of 2024.
“On current projections, we will extract in excess of 20,000 ounces of gold this year. This would be a phenomenal result for Auric,” said Mr English.
Photo: Auric Managing Director Mark English, Company Secretary & Finance Manager Catherine Yeo and Technical Director John Utley with a gold doré bar. Greenfields Mill on 6 August 2024.
The Greenfields Mill (Greenfields or Mill) is contracted to process 150,000 tonnes of ore for the current campaign through Auric’s Joint Venture partner, BML Ventures Pty Ltd of Kalgoorlie (BML). As of 14 August 2024 nearly 129,000 tonnes have been delivered to the Mill.
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This article includes content from Auric Mining, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.