WA1 Resources (ASX:WA1) has increased the definition of the Luni carbonatite discovery following an infill ground gravity survey at its West Arunta Project in Western Australia.
The company says the infill gravity surveying at the Luni carbonatite is interpreted to have defined the lateral extent of the intrusion, increasing the gravity station coverage to 100m x 50m from the previous 400m x 400m.
WA1 Resources notes that the overall Luni gravity anomaly highs are believed to broadly define the lateral extent, with this assumption to be tested by upcoming drilling.
Addressing the increase of definition, WA1 Resources Managing Director Paul Savich says: “This infill gravity survey has significantly improved the resolution of the dataset over the Luni carbonatite and will be coupled with infill magnetics, which is currently being acquired, to further enhance our targeting efforts.
“This infill gravity survey has significantly improved the resolution of the dataset over the Luni carbonatite…”
When combined with the recent passive seismic survey, these gravity results increase our confidence that the passive seismic has mapped the horizon, which has had a general association with high-grade, enriched mineralisation seen in drilling.
Using the passive seismic data, it is possible to remove some of the effects of the basement topography. This ‘constrains’ the gravity to provide a clearer view of features below. For the first time, we believe we have possibly defined the densest part of the Luni gravity anomaly, providing a refined gravity target at depth.”
The company also notes the highest gravity amplitude is situated in the east and is reported to be coincident with a shallowing of the bedrock as interpreted by the passive seismic survey.
This general correlation between the bedrock topography and the broad gravity high zone at Luni highlights the relationship between the 2 datasets, further enhancing the confidence that the previously released passive seismic has mapped the ‘strongly weathered’ to less weathered transitional bedrock topography on a broad scale.
Meanwhile, it is reported an updated 3D inversion model has now been created for the Luni area, and has utilised the recently acquired passive seismic data to help constrain the model and remove basement topography effects.
This model has defined a gravity anomaly with a rhombic ‘pipe-like’ geometry, which transitions into a more ‘significant’ and laterally ‘extensive’ gravity anomaly at depth. It is believed this anomaly could be a dense carbonatite or highly altered core to a carbonatite alteration complex, representing a possible primary source for oxide niobium and total rare earth oxide (TREO) mineralisation encountered near surface.
With the gravity survey now completed, WA1 Resources announces an infill drone magnetic survey over the Luni and P2 carbonatites, as well as additional ground gravity and photogrammetry is currently ongoing.
WA1 Resources is an ASX-listed company based in Perth which is focused on discovering Tier 1 mineral deposits in Western Australia’s under-explored regions. The company’s West Arunta project is located about 700km west-northwest of Alice Springs and includes 3 granted exploration tenements covering an area of 267km-square, as well as 2 exploration licence applications.
Other assets included within the company’s exploration arsenal include the Madura Project, and the Hidden Valley Project in Western Australia.
Images: WA1 Resources Ltd
