ASX ANNOUNCEMENT Date: 14 October 2016
Number: 489/131016
IMPACT TRIPLES LANDHOLDING AROUND THE COMMONWEALTH PROJECT IN THE LACHLAN FOLD BELT, NSW
Impact Minerals Limited (ASX:IPT) is pleased to announce that it has applied for three new exploration licences both adjacent and close to its existing 100% owned Commonwealth Project in the highly prospective Lachlan Fold Belt north of Orange in New South Wales (Figure 1).
The new licences are prospective for gold, silver and base metals similar to that found at the Silica Hill Prospect at Commonwealth where Impact has recently made a breakthrough discovery of high grade gold and very high grade silver mineralisation including a highlight result of:
41.3 metres at 2.0 g/t gold and 176 g/t silver (4.7 g/t gold equivalent) from 61 metres; which includes 16.3 metres at 3.7 g/t gold and 246 g/t silver (7.6 g/t gold equivalent) from
86 metres and including 1.7 metres at 3.8 g/t gold and 1,176 g/t silver;
(see announcements dated 19th August, 31st August, 2nd September and 13th September 2016).
Gold equivalency calculations are based on the following US dollar prices: Gold $1326/oz; silver and $18.82/oz.
The new licences bring Impact's total ground holdings in the Lachlan Fold Belt, home to numerous gold and copper mines including the Cadia-Ridgeway deposits that contain more than 25 million ounces of gold and 10 million tonnes of copper, to 1,000 square kilometres.
The licences will be 100% owned by Impact and will not form part of the investment agreement with Squadron Resources Pty Ltd (see below).
Impact Minerals' Managing Director Dr Mike Jones said:
"To be able to put our foot on such a significant ground holding in the richly mineralised Lachlan Fold Belt is an excellent development for Impact and its shareholders.
The work we have done at Commonwealth over the past three years has shown that rocks on both the eastern and western side of the Molong Belt which hosts the Cadia-Ridgeway Mine and which were perceived to be relatively unprospective, do in fact have tremendous potential for the discovery of deposits similar to the Commmonwealth deposit and our emerging high grade gold- silver discovery at Silica Hill.
We have also shown that good detective work using good old fashioned geological thinking and field work can lead to exploration breakthroughs. Like Commonwealth when we acquired the project, this new ground contains abundant mineralised locations most of which have not been drilled and are poorly understood. They are exciting projects to be working on".
26 Richardson Street West Perth Western Australia 6005 Tel +61 (8) 6454 6666 Facsimile +61 (8) 6454 6667
Email [email protected] www.impactminerals.com.au
The new licences are located in three areas and all contain a large number of precious and base metal prospects, many of which have indications of high grade mineralisation (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Location of Impact's licences north of Orange showing geology and key prospects.
About the new Exploration Licences
New application ELA5340 forms an extension to the Commonwealth Project; ELA 5341 is located 50 km north east of Orange is called the Day Dawn Project; and ELA5342 is located 50 km north west of Orange and is called the Pine Hill Project (Figure 1). Exploration highlights include:
ELA5340, which covers several areas between 10 km and 50 km north and east of Wellington, encompasses many kilometres of the same rocks that host the Silica Hill and Commonwealth mineralisation. Examples of the key prospects include the Boda and Federal Prospects.
At Boda previous rock chip samples with copper sulphide and copper oxide returned up to 1.2% copper and are associated in places with several Induced Polarisation anomalies. A diamond drill hole to 503 m completed by Goldfields returned 141 m at 0.11% copper,
0.1 g/t gold and 33 ppm Mo including 7 m at 0.4% copper and 0.8 g/t gold including 1 m at 4 g/t gold. Stockwork and disseminated pyrite-chalcopyrite mineralisation occurs within skarn-altered basalt and a porphyry diorite stock at depth.
At the Federal Mine rock chip samples returned up to 19.9 g/t gold from quartz-pyrite veins in granite and up to 39.2 g/t gold and 1.2% lead from the nearby Bonnie Doon workings. Drilling intersected up to 2 m at 1.4 g/t gold and 12 m at 0.4% gold in silica- altered porphyry granite near the contact with surrounding sedimentary rocks.
ELA5341 to the north east of Orange also contains rocks of the same age as those at Commonwealth. It lies 15 km east of the Copper Hill porphyry copper-gold deposit (Figure 1) and contains rocks prospective for massive sulphide, epithermal and intrusion-related gold and base metal deposits.
At the Day Dawn area, a number of base and precious metal prospects occur over a 2 km strike and include the Day Dawn North, South, Southeast, Far South and Lone Pine workings. At Day Dawn North rock chip samples returned up to 2.0 g/t gold, 720 g/t silver, 0.1% copper, 0.1% zinc and 1.7% lead. Coincident IP, PEM and SP anomalies have been reported. Drilling intersected up to 5 m at 3.2% zinc, 0.1% copper, 0.7% lead and
9 g/t silver. Gold was not assayed for. Of note, the well respected epithermal specialist, Dr Greg Corbett, assessed the drill core and assay data and concluded the mineralisation displays similarities to intrusion-related epithermal systems which overprint massive sulphide (VMS)-style mineralisation. This is a similar environment to that proposed by Impact at Commonwealth.
ELA5342 to the north west of Orange and 10 km west of the Copper Hill deposit contains rocks of a variety of ages that are cut by several major faults that control a number of old gold, silver and copper mine workings in the Cumnock, Gumble and Delaneys area. In addition the sedimentary and volcanic rocks have been intruded by granites and are prospective for so called "skarn mineralisation" in the contact zone of the granite.
At the Delaneys Mine, drilling of two soil anomalies near the historic mine area intersected skarn mineralisation with up to 8 m at 0.7% copper, 0.15% tin, 0.2 g/t gold and 30 g/t silver.
At the Gumble Copper Mine historic records indicate the mine produced a small tonnage of copper oxide ore with grades in excess of 10% copper, and up to three ounces each of gold and silver. This area has not been drilled.
At the Pine Hill Prospect drilling intersected significant skarn mineralisation and returned 19 m at 0.3% tin and 0.3% copper including 2 m at 0.6% tin and 1.0% copper. Gold was not assayed for. A nearby hole returned 6 m at 0.3% tin and 30 m at 0.2% tin (no other assay data) and the mineralisation remains open at depth and along strike along the granite contact.
Next Steps
On granting of the new licences a comprehensive review of previous exploration data will be completed before field programmes commence.
In addition, the drill programme at Commonwealth has now ceased following the completion of a drill hole at Welcome Jack. As well as the discovery at Silica Hill and the high grade extensions found to the Commonwealth deposit, all of the targets drilled returned variably altered and mineralised intercepts that are very encouraging. A detailed synthesis and review of all of the data collected over the past five months of field activities is now in progress with a view to follow up drilling as soon as possible.
One of the main aims of the recent drill programme was to confirm that the four main areas drilled were part of one large mineralised system covering many square kilometres. Initial work by Impact has demonstrated that this is likely to be correct.
Impact is aiming to commence the next phase of drilling during the current Quarter subject to statutory approvals.
Investment by Squadron Resources Pty Limited
The Commonwealth gold-silver-zinc-lead project and also Impact's Broken Hill platinum-copper- nickel project are part of the investment agreement between Impact Minerals and Squadron Resources Pty Ltd, part of the Minderoo Group which represents the philanthropic and business interests of Andrew and Nicola Forrest (see announcement 17 July 2015).
As part of the investment agreement Squadron can at its sole discretion, invest a further A$1 million into either or both of the projects to earn a 19.9% interest after Impact has spent a combined total of $2.5 million on them from a total of $3 million of exploration funds provided.
Impact has now met the $2.5 million expenditure target and in accordance with the agreement Squadron now has 90 days from 2nd September 2016 to make its investment decision.