Iltani Resources (ASX:ILT) has been awarded a $230,375 grant through the Collaborative Exploration Initiative (CEI) to fund an airborne geophysical survey at the Herberton Project in Queensland.
The CEI grant will enable Iltani to define immediate blind drill targets associated with sulphide mineralisation at Orient and to assess the potential for further Orient-style silver-copper-indium-lead-zinc mineralisation and copper mineralisation within the under-explored central portion of the Boonmoo Sag Complex.
Iltani says a featherbed volcanic helicopter-borne versatile time domain electromagnetic (VTEM) survey will be carried out in mid-2025. The survey is designed to cover multiple targets, with the priority being the Orient area.
The survey is expected to be completed between May and June this year. The results will be used to plan further exploration at Orient and regional exploration across the Herberton Project.
The survey should give Iltani a clear picture of the location and extent of the silver-lead-zinc-indium mineralisation under the cover sequence, allowing better target drilling.
Managing Director Donald Garner says the survey has potential to become a game-changer for Iltani in multiple areas.
“We know the sulphide mineralisation at Orient responds well to EM, from the work we did last year,” Garner says.
“So flying the Orient area should enable us to locate more sulphide mineralisation — including the mineralisation at depth and undercover. This will enable us to better evaluate the total extent of the Orient system and delineate new drilling targets, expanding the Orient system.”
Garner adds that the Boonmoo Sag Caldera area has “never been explored in any detail”.
“Previous explorers in the Herberton region targeted tin mineralisation, which is unlikely within the Caldera Complex, so the area was consequently ignored,” he says.
“There are some historical small-scale base metal mines within the Caldera Complex plus Iltani reconnaissance exploration identified multiple tourmaline breccia pipes.”
The CEI grant was provided by the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines, Manufacturing and Regional and Rural Development’s Industry Development Plan.
Iltani’s Herberton Project, covering 340km2, sits in the Herberton Mineral Field which is a highly prospective terrain with a long history of mining. Tin deposits were discovered in the area in 1880 and over 2,400 old mines and prospects are known in the Herberton-Mt Garnet region.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Iltani Resources
