A new ‘state-of-the-art’ mineral analyser has launched to help accelerate geological analysis to unlock the next generation of resources in Western Australia.
The Western Australian Government has invested $1.9 million, which includes a tescan integrated mineral analyser (TIMA), accompanying equipment and ongoing servicing and maintenance.
Geological Survey of Western Australia (GSWA) geoscientists will use the TIMA to rapidly analyse geological samples and identify the minerals they contain.
Explorers will have free access to the new datasets, helping them make better-informed decisions and reduce drilling risks and costs.
This information will also help GSWA identify mineral systems concealed beneath sediment and weathered cover, where significant discovery potential remains but deposits are harder to find.
Beyond exploration, the mineral analyser will generate new geological information to advance carbon storage, geothermal energy, natural hydrogen, and other emerging energy resources.
Mine waste will be another focus, with analysis of historical and current materials helping determine whether they contain recoverable critical minerals or other valuable resources.
Maritana Minerals
This latest technology offers an opportunity for explorers in the state to make more discoveries and develop their projects.
Maritana Minerals (ASX:MRT) believes there is ‘significant’ exploration potential that exists across its landholding in Western Australia, through resource extension and new discoveries.
The company owns an extensive land position in the Eastern Goldfields region of Western Australia, centred around Kalgoorlie-Boulder and Coolgardie.
Its mining and exploration projects hosts a combined mineral resource of 1.9 million ounces of gold and support a hub-and-spoke operating model widely used in the Kalgoorlie region.
In late September, Maritana extended gold mineralisation at its Boorara Gold Project, after receiving assay results from its 119-hole, 17,246m drilling campaign.
Managing Director Grant Haywood says the results confirm that gold mineralisation at Boorara extends beyond the floor of planned pit four, approximately 90m below the current limits of previous mining, and remains open at depth.
“Once all assays from the program are received, they will be incorporated into an updated mineral resource estimate for Boorara and assessed in pit optimisation work below the current design as we work towards a restart of mining in Boorara in mid-2027,” Haywood states.
Great Boulder Resources
Another explorer in the state is Great Boulder Resources (ASX:GBR), which owns two major gold projects in the Murchison region.
The company’s primary focus is developing the Peak Hill Gold Project into production by the end of 2027, while advancing the 1-million-ounce Side Well Project towards production.
At Peak Hill, drilling recently uncovered additional shallow ‘high-grade’ gold intersections from a 40,000m drilling program.
Managing Director Andrew Paterson says the latest results demonstrate ‘good continuity’ along the same trend identified at Durack, where previous drilling returned 23m @ 2.22 grams per tonne gold (Au) from surface and 4m @ 37.1g/t Au from 110m.
“Results continue to exceed expectations, not only in thickness and grade but also in terms of continuity, all of which are important when we start mining,” Paterson adds.
Meanwhile, at the Side Well Gold Project, gold intersections extended the discovery to 1.5km of strike.
Recent results include 2m @ 30.76g/t Au from 133m, including 1m @ 60.9g/t Au from 134m; 4m @ 7.6g/t Au from 60m; and 2.64m @ 14.62g/t Au from 292.36m.
Auric Mining
The Munda Gold Project is a key part of Auric Mining’s (ASX:AWJ) strategy to establish an integrated gold mining and processing operation in Western Australia.
Auric is progressing resource extension, grade control, and geotechnical drilling, together with approvals and development work. Munda’s Starter Pit has produced around 8,886 ounces of gold — well above the original 6,100-ounce target.
In late September, the company delivered ‘strong’ drilling results from Munda, which support potential resource growth beyond the current pit design.
Some of the results include 15m @ 5.56g/t Au from 6m, including 3m @ 19.3g/t Au and 4m @ 19.34g/t Au from 9m.
Managing Director Mark English says, to date, all mined output has been processed throughBlack Cat Syndicate’s (ASX:BC8) Lakewood Mill in Kalgoorlie, as previously reported.
Lakewood is a 1.2-million-tonne-per-annum (Mtpa) carbon-in-leach processing plant.
Black Cat is completing a study to expand throughput at Lakewood to 1.5Mtpa. However, English notes that even with an expansion, the demand for mill space remains high in the region.
With Western Australia’s technology investment, the government aims to help drive the next generation of resource discoveries and keep the state at the forefront of global geoscience innovation.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Main image: Maritana Minerals
