Zeus Resources (ASX:ZEU) is reporting it has received assay results from rock chip sampling conducted at its Mortimer Hills Project (E09/2147) in Western Australia during June this year, showing manganese, barium and zinc.
A total of 4 rock chip samples were taken from the parent granite, and 28 rock chip samples were taken of pegmatites, with a further 8 samples collected from several base metal targets.
Zeus is also required under the Mining Act of Western Australia for exploration licences to relinquish an area of no less than 40% of the total tenement area at the end of the sixth year of its term.
A total of 6 granular blocks were surrendered of the 15 current blocks at Mortimer Hills E09/2147 on 13 September.
Zeus believes that relinquishing this area will not substantially reduce the prospectivity of the project.
Arrow at its Malinda Project (T-Bone, Tomahawk and Blade prospects) immediately to the east of Zeus E09/2147 tenement has identified the Thirty-Three Supersuite as a fertile parent granitoid with the potential to generate LCT Pegmatite swarms up to 500m to 3,000m out from the parent granitoid.
The Thirty-Three Supersuite and Morrissey Metamorphic Suite extend east-southeast from Malinda into Zeus’ tenement.
Zeus therefore considers that E09/2147 has substantial potential for host-related LCT Pegmatite mineralisation.
Extensive tourmaline alteration of the country rock found within the tenement also suggests the Thirty-Three Supersuite is highly fractionated and has the potential to generate LCT Pegmatites.
Sub cropping deformed pegmatites, similar in character to those described at Arrow’s Malinda Prospect, were first identified on Zeus’ E09/2147 tenement in Q3 2021 with subsequent mapping locating the Pegmatite Creek Prospect in December 2021.
The prospective zone extending outwards from the margins of the prospective granites into the host metasediments is largely obscured by an extensive blanket of quartz sheetwash derived from weathering of the granitoid.
At the Pegmatite Creek prospect numerous pegmatites are exposed by erosion along the flanks of the intrusive granite with recent winter rainfalls fortuitously facilitating better exposure of outcrops
At the Pegmatite Creek prospect numerous pegmatites are exposed by erosion along the flanks of the intrusive granite with recent winter rainfalls fortuitously facilitating better exposure of outcrops.
Mapping indicates the core of the intrusive is composed of K-feldspar-quartz-muscovite/biotite granite surrounded by a siliceous outer carapae of quartz-albite-tourmaline granite containing extensively developed pegmatites and quartz-tourmaline veining.
A 50m by 200m wide (narrowing along strike to the southeast) transitional margin contains interleaved quartz veins, quartzrose pegmatites, tourmaline-rich zones and migmatised biotite-cordierite schists.
The contact metamorphic aureole, in which the regional chlorite-sericite-garnet schists are metamorphosed to biotie-cordierite schists, extends outwards for approximately 500m from the parent granite.
Individual pegmatites and pegmatite swarms are observed intruding along the dominant northwest-southeast regional metamorphic fabric.
Evidence of zonation has been observed within larger pegmatites and some pegmatites appear to be recrystallised and sheared and boudinaged by post-intrusion deformation.
None of the pegmatite rock chip assays collected are considered to be of economic grade, but appear to show typical pegmatite zoning with the pegmatite Li and Ta grades both tending to increase towards the south and away from the granite.
This trend will be tested by further mapping and sampling of pegmatite outcrops farther out from the granites, towards the northeast, with the aim of finding a pegmatite zone where the Li and other elements achieve economic grades.
The company has engaged Western Geophysics in Western Australia to collect more publicly available geophysical data with the aim of identifying further prospective areas.
An airborne drone photogrammetry survey is also planned for Q3 2022 to target the lithium ‘sweet spot’.
Previous exploration at Mortimer Hills located the widespread occurrences of magnaiferous ironstone clasts within transported sheetwash on the tenement.
Field mapping during Q2 2022 located several outcrops of magnaiferous gossans developed adjacent to fault bounded outcrops of dolomite within sedimentary units of the Bangemall Basin.
Component outcrops of dolomites typically from large sheared lenses 0.5km to 2km in length within the Ti-Tree shear zone.
Magnaiferous nodules and manganese-cemented breccias outcrop on their southern margins where erosion and transport downslope form extensive pediments of transported manganite and quartz.
Zeus considers these regions to have the potential to host a fault-bounded manganese deposit.
The 8 rock chips samples taken of gossan, fault breccia and structural targets produced anomalous grades for zinc, arsenic, phosphate, and especially high grades for barium (up to 11.3% Ba) and manganese (up to 48.2% Mn).
These very encouraging results confirm that these targets have excellent exploration potential that will be followed up by Zeus with more detailed mapping, geochemical sampling and drilling in the coming months.
These sample sites will be targeted for detailed mapping and airborne geophysical survey in the near future with a view to developing suitable drill targets.
Zeus Resources is an Australian mineral exploration and development company that focuses on exploring for uranium and metallic minerals.
Images: Zeus Resources Ltd
