Artemis Resources Limited (ASX: ARV) has identified what it describes as “significant Fortescue Group sediments” over 16km of prospective contact with the Mt Roe Basalts, overlying Australia’s largest Platinum Group Element (PGE) deposit, the company’s Munni Munni project in the north-west of Western Australia.
Artemis’s Executive Chairman, David Lenigas, said that the possibility of gold bearing sediments being located above the platinum/palladium deposit at Munni Munni has never been previously considered.
“It is extraordinary that we have found so much Fortescue sediments overlying our Munni Munni PGE deposit, Australia’s largest Platinum Group Element resource,” Mr Lenigas said.
“We now have nearly 15,000 metres of diamond drill core and RC drilling to work our way through to determine the gold potential in these Fortescue sediments. It’s these Fortescue Group rocks that we believe is the host of the gold at our nearby Purdy’s Reward conglomerate gold discovery,” he said,
“Munni Munni has the added advantage of not only having fully approved Mining and Exploration Licences, but it also has all of its Heritage agreements in place which is a big bonus in actually being able to do meaningful work in the Pilbara. This work also raising the possibility of conglomerate gold targets on our Whundo Mining Leases.”
Mr Lenigas said the company has determined that significant Fortescue Group sediments sit over major portions of the Munni Munni intrusive complex (MMIC) that hosts the Munni Munni PGE resource.
The MMIC is the largest intrusion in the West Pilbara and hosts a JORC 2004 compliant Resource of:1 24 Mt @ 2.9 g/t Platinum Group Element (PGE) + gold (1.4Mt Inferred, 9.8Mt indicated and 12.4Mt Measured) (0.83Moz platinum. 1.14Moz palladium, 152Koz gold and 76Koz rhodium).
The Fortescue Group sediments are considered to be the host to the gold bearing conglomerates currently being explored at Purdy’s Reward, which is located along trend and only 20km to the north-east of Munni Munni.
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The company has already identified a total of 2,218m of previously drilled Fortescue Group sediments in diamond core stored at Munni Munni, that is currently in the process of being relocated to Artemis’s nearby Radio Hill operations base.
Mr Lenigas said there is now the potential to accelerated exploration at Munni Munni as the project has the considerable advantage of sitting within 33.5 km2 of approved Mining Leases and 42.5 km2 of approved Exploration Licences, all with heritage agreements in place, approved heritage surveys in place and approved Programme of Works in place with the Department of Mines Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS).
There has previously been a grand total of over 85,000m of drilling done (diamond core and RC) at Munni Munni, and the Company has commenced a complete review of the extensive diamond core and RC drill chips that are available on site at the Munni Munni core yard.
The project is also well located is located south of the major town of Karratha and the port of Dampier in the Western Pilbara.