Artemis Resources’ “super-deep” hole in the Pilbara is providing plenty of encouragement to the diversified explorer as it nears 1km depth.
The +3.3km diamond drill hole (ASD-1) – which has a price tag of around A$1.4 million – is designed to test rock sequences in the Pilbara Basin from surface and deep into the basement’s geology.
ASD-1 has now been drilled to a depth of 943.5 metres as at 6am Western Standard Time this morning, progressing from a depth of 595 metres Tuesday last week.
Artemis said the hole has witnessed a change of geology from the Hardey Formation (a series of interbedded sediments and tuffs) to the intersection of intermediate-felsic intrusive (Diorite – Granodiorite) at a depth of 644.4 metres.
At a depth of 901.6 metres, the geology changed again to narrow dolerite dykes intersecting the intermediate-felsic intrusive.
The change in geology from Hardey Formation at such a shallow depth was unexpected, with alteration and bleaching and a number of quartz veins being observed,” the company said.
Artemis said the varied intrusion lithologies identified in the drill hole was an exciting development.
“The presence of these intrusive bodies in the basin is supportive of existing mineralisation in the region. The company is encouraged by results to date and will seek to reinterpret the area for further mineralisation as information from this drill hole is received,” Artemis said.
Drill core from the hole is being moved from the drill site to Artemis’s Radio Hill Operations, located some 43 km to the north, where core is being logged and photographed. The whole core will then be sent to the GSWA’s Perth Core Library for analysis. The current drilling rate has reduced to 25m/shift due to ground hardness.
ASD-1 is located some 43km south of Artemis’ Radio Hill Mine in the West Pilbara, of Western Australia.
Shares in Artemis were at 17c in Tuesday afternoon trade.