Torrens East Copper Project
The Torrens East Copper Project comprises 1,622km² of ground considered highly-prospective for Iron Oxide Copper-Gold (IOCG) mineralisation in the Lake Torrens region of South Australia. The project is situated adjacent to the Torrens JV (70% Aeris Resources Ltd; 30% Argonaut Resources NL) and approximately 50km from BHP’s recently announced drilling in the Olympic Dam copper-gold province, host to the world class Olympic Dam (BHP Group Ltd) and Carrapateena (Oz Minerals Ltd) IOCG deposits.
Bonaventura Project
The Bonaventura Project is located in the northern part of Kangaroo Island, with highly-prospective geology along 30km of strike of the regional-scale Cygnet-Snelling Fault. Recent diamond drilling at the Dewrang Prospect intercepted zinc-lead mineralisation which correlated with a previously untested 1.5km geophysical IP anomaly.
Arden Project
Located some 335km north of Adelaide, the Arden Project boasts a large relatively unexplored area of 1,664km2 which is highly-prospective for sedimentary exhalative (SEDEX) mineralisation. Within the Arden Project up to three horizons of SEDEX zinc mineralisations were identified from the recent drilling programme at the Ragless Range Prospect extending over 3km of strike and open in every direction.
Region
South Australia has provided minerals to the world for more than 150 years and is a leader in the exploration and discovery of uranium, copper-gold and mineral sands. It is home to one of the world’s biggest copper, gold and uranium mines, Olympic Dam, and one of Australia’s significant copper-gold mines at Prominent Hill.
South Australia exports almost one-third of Australia’s mined copper and over half of Australia’s mined uranium. Mineral exports are the largest export sector in South Australia totalling $3.4billion and accounting for 29% of total state exports. By 2030, South Australia will be the major contributor to Australia’s position as the world’s third-largest copper producer.
South Australia remains a highly attractive destination for investment in the minerals sector achieving 14th place globally for Investment Attractiveness in the respected Fraser Institute Annual Survey of Mining Companies in 2017.
The state government recently invested $660 million dollars redeveloping the Port Pirie base metals smelter, transforming the facility into an advanced polymetallic processing and recovery facility. Significant quantities of refined lead, zinc and silver are exported from the Port Pirie mineral processing facility.
Project Geology
Arden and Bonaventura Projects are located in the Adelaide Geosyncline, a major rift complex that formed during the break-up of the supercontinent Rodinia. Both projects contain significant areas of Cambrian-aged sedimentary units, which are the host units of all known Sedex-style mineralisation, which can be highly-prospective for base-metal deposits.
Bonaventura covers a major regional fault (Cygnet – Snelling Fault) which hosts the potential for gold and base-metal mineralisation.
The Torrens East Copper Project lies within the Olympic Dam copper-gold province of the Eastern Gawler Craton of central South Australia. The project is located within the Torrens IOCG Hinge Zone, which is defined by the distribution of known early-Mesoproterozoic mineralisation and alteration, with the structural framework playing an important role in the formation of large IOCG systems.
The province is host to several world-class IOCG deposits including Olympic Dam and Carrapateena. The Olympic Dam deposit is currently the world’s fourth-largest copper resource, the fifth-largest gold resource and boasts the world’s largest uranium resource.
