Bryah Resources (ASX:BYH) is reporting it has received $140,000 of Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS) co-funding from the Western Australian Government to start diamond drilling at its Bryah Basin Olympus Copper-Gold Project.
The funding will allow Bryah to undertake a 2,000m reverse circulation (RC) drilling program to test the Olympus geochemical anomaly (OGA) on the northern limb of the Mars Dome.
The program completed 9 holes totaling 2,148m in June and July 2022.
Commenting on the drilling, Bryah CEO Ashley Jones said the State funded EIS grant enabled Bryah to fast-track this prospect by going straight to deep RC drilling which successfully identified anomalous copper and multi-element trends similar to the Windalah project.
“This drilling project will aid us in generating drill targets.
“This drilling project will aid us in generating drill targets”
VMS deposits often form in clusters and having two projects, Windalah and Olympus, with similar geochemical anomalies is exciting.
The aim of this deeper initial drilling was to target the fresh rock and help target the prospective horizon faster.
“The right lithologies were intersected and further drilling will be warranted based on the anomalous results received. The main prospective horizon based on the Windalah prospect hasn’t been intersected yet, so that will be the target of further programs.”
A pair of holes targeting depth extensions of massive sulphide intersected in shallower drilling planned for this month.
Bryah also reported follow up RC drilling is planned to take place at Olympus, focusing on generating multiple sections that intersect the mineralised stratigraphic horizon.
The co-funded RC drilling program includes 9 holes drilled across the full strike length of the Olympus Soil Geochemical Anomaly. These holes were drilled on five 320m spaced lines with some sections containing multiple holes to provide stratigraphic section.
RC drilling at Olympus has identified a geochemical pathfinder enrichment similar to that observed in the hanging wall transition facies stratigraphy at the Windalah Cu-Au prospect.
These pathfinder elements, especially Pb, Bi, Te, and As, suggest there is potential for a Windalah-style massive sulphide system in the stratigraphic footwall to the current limit of drilling at Olympus. These will be the target of further drill campaigns.
This enrichment forms a spacially coherent, vaguely stratiform multi-element anomaly in the hanging wall to observe sulphides and approaching the interpreted mineralised stratigraphic horizon.
A similar spacial distribution of enrichment in hanging wall volcanics observed is considered encouraging and may imply a similar hydrothermal system.
RC drilling at Olympus has identified a downhole pathfinder anomalous zone with copper-gold potential in this stratigraphic footwall.
Drilling has identified numerous lithofacies, textures, mineralogy, alterations, and styles of mineralisation that are typical of high sulphidation VMS deposits such as the nearby Horseshoe Lights Cu-Au mine.
Bryah reports it has identified a spacially coherent Pb-Bi-Mo-(Cu-Zn-Te-Se) anomaly approaching the hanging wall contact to mineralised stratigraphic horizon. This level of enrichment is also observed in the hanging wall volcaniclastics at Windalah.
It also observed semi-massive sulphide mineralisation. The most significant intercept of sulphide mineralisation includes 1m @ 33wt% pyrite.
Bryah is also reporting some chips of semi-massive pyrite appear to show a fine-grained, granular texture, a distinctive textural feature of the Windalah and Horseshoe Lights massive sulphide.
The Olympus prospect lies on the northern limb of the Mars Dome, which forms part of a series of double-plunging anticlinal dome structures in the northern Bryah Basin, which is called the Aquarius trend and also consists of the Saturn and Jupiter Domes to the northwest.
These dome structures connect laterally with outcropping Narracoota Formation to the northeast through a series of possible covered domes and basin structures.
Bryah Resources’ projects strategically are energy metals focused, or are able to exploit synergies of geological knowledge, locality and exploration. All of its assets are located in Western Australia.
The ‘prospective’ Bryah Basin licenses cover 1,048km-square, and have a potential new Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide (VMS) ‘Horseshoe Lights type’ mine analogue at the Windah prospect, and multiple other similar untested targets.
The area also contains extensive outcroppings of manganese, which is the subject of a $7 million joint venture with OM Holdings (ASX:OMH), a vertically integrated manganese producer and refiner with a market capitalisation of over $600 million.
Bryah reports it has an ‘excellent working relationship’ with OMH, already spending $3 million to earn-in to the manganese rights of the project.
Gabanintha, located near Meekatharra has a JORC 2012 Mineral Resource for Cu, Ni, Co2 and additional structural gold potential.
The copper nickel resource and recently identified gold mineralisation at Gabanintha will be the subject of further drill definition and a prefeasibility study to integrate the project with the Australian Vanadium Project (ASX:AVL).
The resource has been defined by the drilling efforts of AVL in the development of its vanadium project and enabled Bryah to define a base metal resources inventory.
Bryah’s base metals inventory at Gabanintha and Manganese JV in the Bryah Basin have a clear pathway to production, which will be significantly advanced in 2022 by the commencement and completion of metallurgical feasibility studies at both projects.
Bryah has also signed an option agreement over the Lake Johnston tenements which are prospective for battery metals lithium and nickel.
On IPO, the option holder Mining Green Metals Ltd (ASX:GRE) will pay 5 million shares for 51% of the project, with another 5 million shares for the remaining 49%.
The corridor near Lake Johnston contains significant mines and discoveries of nickel and lithium, including the Mount Holland Lithium Mine and the historical Maggie Hays/Emily Ann nickel deposits.
Bryah Resources holds 20.75% of gold focused Star Minerals (ASX:SMS). Star has a Mineral Resource at Tumblegum South and exploration prospects in the West Bryah Basin.
Images: Bryah Resources Ltd
