Metals Australia Ltd

The First of Three New Drilling Programs Underway in Major Australian Gold & Critical Minerals Provinces

Drilling will test priority targets identified along strike from major gold and critical minerals discoveries and mines in Western Australia and the Northern Territory

Metals Australia Ltd (ASX: MLS) (“the Company”) is pleased to announce that drilling has commenced testing the first of three key exploration projects in Australia1,8, which are highly prospective for gold and critical minerals. All three projects are located along strike from major mineral deposits in world-class mineral fields (see Figure 1).


  • An aircore drilling program of up to 6,000m is underway testing gold, lithium-pegmatite and Ni-Cu- Co targets across the Warrambie Project in WA’s northwest Pilbara1. Warrambie straddles the Scholl Shear Zone, which is analogous to the Mallina Shear – host to the nearby, 10Moz, Hemi gold deposit3. The drilling will also test for major lithium-pegmatites, being located just 10km east of the Andover lithium discovery2,5.
  • An up to 120-hole aircore drilling program is permitted to follow an extensive soil sampling and gravity program underway at Big Bell North in WA’s world-class Murchison Gold Province, testing greenstone-splay fault hosted gold targets identified from interpretation of imagery from the recently completed aeromagnetic survey1. Big Bell North is located along strike to the northeast of the 5Moz Big Bell gold deposit4.
  • Approvals imminent for a substantial drilling program at the Warrego East copper-gold project within the Tennant Creek Mineral Field, which historically produced a world-class 25Mt @ 6.9g/t Au and 2.8% Cu6. Warrego East is directly east of Warrego mine, which produced 6.75Mt @ 1.9% Cu and 1.8g/t Au6. The drilling will test a series of gravity and magnetics defined ironstone hosted copper-gold targets within a corridor which links the Warrego Mine with the Gecko and Orlando copper-gold deposits6,7.

Metals Australia CEO Paul Ferguson commented:

“2024 is shaping up as the most active and exciting period in Metals Australia’s history - with the three aggressive gold and critical minerals drilling and exploration programs launched at Warrambie, Big Bell North and Warrego East in Australia being advanced in parallel with our two gold and critical minerals programs underway in Canada.

“Critically, our projects are all located in world-class mineralised provinces along strike from major discoveries and historical mines.

We believe all our projects have potential for major new discoveries and we look forward to a period of strong news flow and results throughout the remainder of 2024 and beyond - as we look to unlock their potential and build value for MLS shareholders.”

Figure 1: Metals Australia key Critical Minerals and gold exploration projects in world-class mineral terranes (adapted from Geoscience Australia, Australian Mineral Deposits)

Warrambie Lithium-Pegmatite, Gold and Ni-Cu-Co Targets, Northwest Pilbara, WA

An extensive aircore drilling program has commenced testing bedrock lithium-pegmatite targets identified at Warrambie as well as gold and Ni-Cu-Co targets in previously un-explored areas under shallow cover.

Up to 50 aircore holes (up to 6,000m) are being drilled to test targets generated through interpretation of previously acquired detailed aeromagnetics and detailed gravity imagery over the Warrambie project (see Figure 2), including:

  • Lithium pegmatite targets associated with northeast-trending fault corridors associated with gravity lows which intersect magnetic mafic intrusive rocks1,8. This is an analogous geological setting to the neighbouring Andover lithium pegmatite discovery (drilling intersections of up to 209m @ 1.42% Li2O2) – which is associated with a 5km wide, northeast-trending structural corridor in mafic intrusive rocks (Figure 2).
  • Orogenic gold (and Ni-Cu-Co sulphide) targets associated with magnetic anomalies in the Scholl shear which extend west of the Sabre Resources Ltd (ASX:SBR) Sherlock Bay Project, which hosts a 100,000t Ni-Cu-Co sulphide resource9, where recent drilling produced a significant gold (Ni-Cu-Co) intersection mineralisation (8m @ 1.07 g/t Au, 0.3% Ni, 0.11% Cu in SBDD01010) - see Figure 1. The Scholl Shear is parallel and analogous to the Mallina shear which hosts the world-class, >10Moz, Hemi Gold Deposit (DeGrey Mining, ASX:DEG)3.


Click here for the full ASX Release

This article includes content from Metals Australia Ltd, 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.

MLS:AU
Metals Australia

Metals Australia Investor Kit

  • Corporate info
  • Insights
  • Growth strategies
  • Upcoming projects

GET YOUR FREE INVESTOR KIT

The Conversation (0)
Sort by
Metals Australia

Metals Australia


Keep reading...Show less
Lac Carheil Expanded Footprint, Drilling Fully Permitted

Lac Carheil Expanded Footprint, Drilling Fully Permitted

Metals Australia (MLS:AU) has announced Lac Carheil Expanded Footprint, Drilling Fully Permitted

Download the PDF here.

Australian Projects - Warrego East, Manindi, Drill Updates

Australian Projects - Warrego East, Manindi, Drill Updates

Metals Australia (MLS:AU) has announced Australian Projects - Warrego East, Manindi, Drill Updates

Download the PDF here.

Gold Mountain Limited

Extensive Lithium Anomalies defined at Salinas South Project, Lithium Valley, Brazil

Gold Mountain Limited (ASX: GMN) (“Gold Mountain” or “the Company” or “GMN”) is excited to announce it has received 38 stream sediment samples from the Salinas South Project in the Lithium Valley and has defined anomalies over 5 km along regional structural strike direction.

Keep reading...Show less
White Cliff Minerals

Land Use Permit issued for Rae Copper Project

Drilling Activities for Rae on Target to Commence in March 2025

White Cliff Minerals Limited (“WCN” or the “Company”) is pleased to provide an update on the permitting and operations at its Rae Copper Project, Nunavut (the “Project”). This milestone positions the Company to soon commence maiden drilling activities at the Project, building on the exceptional results of its 2024 maiden campaign, where copper rock chips returned exceptional assays exceeding 60%.

Keep reading...Show less
Gold Mountain Limited

Drilling Targets Defined – Bananal Valley tenement, Lithium Valley, Brazil

Gold Mountain Limited (ASX: GMN) (“Gold Mountain” or “the Company” or “GMN”) is excited to announce it has received 224 soil samples from the southern section of the Salinas II Project in the Bananal Valley in Brazil. This new data has helped the team define a 14-hole drill program to test 10 high-priority lithium anomalies, some of which are coincident with outcrops of weathered pegmatite. The potential of this emerging Lithium district is highlighted by Latin Resources Collina Lithium Deposit (70.9Mt @ 1.25% Li2O), which lies along regional structural strike from GMN’s Salinas II Project.

Keep reading...Show less
Gina Rinehart, executive chairman of Hancock Prospecting, stands in front of cherry blossom trees.

Inside Billionaire Gina Rinehart's Key Mining Investments (Updated 2025)

Australian billionaire Gina Rinehart has become a formidable force in the global mining industry.

After taking the helm of her father’s iron ore mining firm Hancock Prospecting in 1993, Rinehart embarked upon a diversification strategy that has vastly expanded her resource empire. Now Australia’s richest person, Rinehart has investments in many of the world’s most strategic commodities such as lithium, rare earths, copper, potash and natural gas.

One of those investments is Arafura Rare Earths (ASX:ARU,OTC Pink:ARAFF), which even in a low price environment for rare earths has managed to secure nearly AU$1.5 billion in debt financing in mid-2024 to advance its Nolans project in the Northern Territory. With a 10 percent equity stake, Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting is Arafura's largest shareholder.

Keep reading...Show less
Metals Australia

Metals Australia Investor Kit

  • Corporate info
  • Insights
  • Growth strategies
  • Upcoming projects

GET YOUR FREE INVESTOR KIT

Latest Press Releases

Related News

×