Buxton Resources (ASX:BUX) has intersected hydrothermal breccia and increasing sulphide mineralisation during maiden drilling at its Madman Project in Western Australia’s Paterson Orogen region.
Drill hole MD002DD intersected a hydrothermal breccia zone between about 518.2m and 525m, comprising quartz-pyrite matrix cement and what the company describes as clotty, semi-massive sulphides with traces of pyrrhotite.
The hole remains in progress at a depth of 533.9m, with sulphide intensity increasing downhole.
Buxton says the textures observed are visually consistent with hydrothermal systems associated with gold-copper deposits such as Havieron and Telfer in the Paterson Province, Western Australia. However, no firm evidence of gold has been detected through visual observations or portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis.
Portable XRF measurements of the sulphides indicated relatively high levels of elements including arsenic, which the company says severely limit the equipment’s sensitivity for detecting gold. Assays will be required to determine whether the system is gold-bearing.
Managing Director Marty Moloney says the results provide encouragement for further work at the project.
“The [approximately] 1km² magnetic anomaly at Madman is spatially associated with a hydrothermal quartz-sulphide breccia system which has the hallmarks of other mineralised systems of the Paterson Orogen,” Moloney says.
“Although there’s no evidence of gold at this point and only assays will confirm if we have intersected a gold-bearing part of this system, these results provide strong encouragement to undertake additional work, including downhole [electromagnetics] and further drilling.”
Pyrrhotite is the only magnetic mineral identified in the hole to date, and represents the first intersected material capable of explaining a meaningful component of Madman’s 200-nanotesla magnetic anomaly.
However, Buxton says a “significantly greater concentration” of magnetic material would be required to fully explain the anomaly. The company believes the main magnetic source may lie at shallower depths north of MD002DD, along its planned P2 hole.
Buxton will continue extending MD002DD and is preparing to undertake downhole electromagnetic surveying. Further exploration is expected to include at least one additional diamond drill hole.
The Madman Project is located 375km northeast of Wiluna and straddles the Marloo Fault along the western margin of the Paterson Orogen.
Buxton Resources is an exploration company focused on acquisition, exploration, and evaluation of tenements in Australia and the US.
Write to France Pinzon at Mining.com.au
Images: Buxton Resources
