Company Announcement: Mt Clement Review Reveals Significant Antimony Exploration Target
Artemis Resources Limited is pleased to provide 2013 exploration objectives for the Eastern Hills prospect, part of the Mt Clement Gold Project in the Ashburton region of Western Australia. The Mt Clement Gold Project (ARV 80%) is a joint venture with Northern Star Resources Ltd, operator of the nearby Paulsens Gold Mine, where production is forecast to rise to 100-115,000oz gold in calendar year 2013 on the back of recent exploration success . The Mt Clement gold deposit contains an Inferred Resource of 1.13Mt at 1.8g/t Au and 17.0g/t Ag (64,000oz gold and 618,000oz silver contained) that is compliant with the JORC Code (2004)1. As part of a review of the Artemis project portfolio at the end of 2012, Artemis has identified historical antimony-lead mineralisation at the Eastern Hills location, less than one kilometre to the southeast of the Mt Clement gold deposit.
EASTERN HILLS ANTIMONY-LEAD DEPOSIT
The Eastern Hills prospect was originally drilled by BHP in the mid 1970s with a single drill hole as part of a broader drilling program for gold at the Mt Clement gold deposit. In the mid 1990s, Taipan Resources NL defined a zone of lead-antimony (Pb-Sb) mineralisation based on 19 reverse circulation (RC) holes, as outlined in an internal report2. A review of historical exploration at Eastern Hills suggests that there is potential for an initial Exploration Target 830,000 tonnes at a grade of 1.7% Sb and 2.4% Pb. The Eastern Hills Exploration Target also contains precious metal credits of around 0.22g/t gold and 26g/t silver.
It should be noted that as this is an Exploration Target only, the potential quantity and grade is conceptual in nature, there has so far been insufficient exploration to define a Mineral Resource in compliance with the JORC Code and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the determination of a Mineral Resource as defined by the JORC Code. The Eastern Hills deposit was not previously considered relevant given the Company’s prime objective of gold exploration and discovery, as well as the relatively weak commodity prices for both lead and antimony. However substantial commodity price increases over recent years have led to a re-evaluation of this prospect’s potential.
The Eastern Hills antimony-lead deposit consists of a zone of mineralisation up to two metres wide associated with a fault structure and outcropping over a strike length of at least 600 metres. The dominant fault structure trends ENE and dips steeply to the SSE, however appears to splay into multiple structures at its eastern end. In contrast, the host rocks – a package of sandstones and siltstones – are striking W-WNW and are thus cut obliquely by the mineralised structure. The antimony-lead mineralisation occurs as massive sulphides bounded by a broader zone of disseminated sulphides. The mineralisation contains high levels of antimony and lead, as well as minor gold and silver, associated with a linear quartz vein represented at surface by a thin, outcropping gossanous zone. Sulphide mineralogy consists of arsenopyrite, pyrite and boulangerite – a lead-antimony sulphide – with minor pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite and galena. Both arsenopyrite and pyrite extend into the disseminated zone for up to eight metres, forming a mineralised zone up to ~15 metres wide.
A preliminary metallurgical assessment was designed by Normet and commissioned to Ammtec by Taipan. While the actual report providing details of this testwork is not currently available to Artemis, the following summary is provided in Taipan’s 1997 internal report2. A 20kg “ore grade” sample composite was subjected to gravity separation and flotation recovery with the objective of producing a high grade antimony-lead concentrate. Mineralogical examination of drill chips identified boulangerite (Pb5Sb4S11) as the main sulphide along with arsenopyrite, pyrite and pyrrhotite. Rougher flotation using potassium amyl xanthate and two recognised activators yielded high Sb and Pb recoveries – greater than 98%.
EASTERN HILLS EXPLORATION TARGET
The purpose of defining the exploration target at Eastern Hills is to demonstrate the potential size and scale of the deposit’s metal endowment, where Artemis expects that its 2013 exploration activities will lead to the estimation of a mineral resource, in accordance with the JORC Code. Historically 19 reverse circulation (RC) drill holes were completed by Taipan Resources NL in 1996 and 1997 for a total of 1,975 metres. These two drilling campaigns successfully demonstrated continuity of the antimony-lead mineralisation along a strike length of at least 600 metres (Figure 3) and to a vertical depth of 120 metres however the mineralisation remained open, both at depth and along strike. There has so far been no follow-up exploration of this deposit to assess the further potential of the Eastern Hills deposit, nor formulate a mineral resource estimate in accordance with the JORC Code.
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