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Mt Ida
At the Mt Ida Prospect the drilling has shown the surface mineralization to comprise of thinly laminated hematite with no significant iron grades and of limited lateral and depth extensions.
However, nine RC holes drilled within a 2km zone of relatively flat banded iron formation (BiF) stratigraphy between 6764000N and 6766000N intersected considerable thicknesses of magnetite BiF averaging greater than 30% iron over thicknesses varying from an aggregate of 46m (hole 08RCm1978) to over 94m (hole 08RCm1989). Partial assay results are presented in table 1, below.
|
Hole number |
From m |
to m |
thickness m |
Fe% |
Easting
|
Northing
|
|
08RCM1978 |
32 |
78 |
46 |
31.87 |
248707 |
6765368 |
|
Including |
32 |
46 |
14 |
35.00 |
|
|
|
Including |
56 |
78 |
22 |
34.54 |
|
|
|
08RCM1979 |
80 |
130 |
50 |
37.54 |
248241 |
6765350 |
|
08RCM1980 |
70 |
142 |
72 |
30.15 |
249174 |
6765901 |
|
including |
70 |
86 |
16 |
35.45 |
|
|
|
Including |
96 |
142 |
46 |
32.37 |
|
|
|
08RCM1986 |
0 |
12 |
12 |
38.23 |
248489 |
6764405 |
|
Including |
42 |
94 (EOH) |
52 |
33.25 |
|
|
|
08RCM1987 |
0 |
18 |
18 |
31.9 |
248702 |
6764369 |
|
Including |
0 |
80 |
80 |
32.36 |
|
|
|
Including |
32 |
80 (EOH) |
48 |
35.31 |
|
|
|
08RCM1988 |
0 |
88 (EOH) |
88 |
32.50 |
248551 |
6764395 |
|
08RCM1989 |
0 |
94 (EOH) |
94 |
31.00 |
248650 |
6764383 |
|
08RCM1990 |
0 |
70 |
70 |
33.57 |
248599 |
6764388 |
|
08RCM1991 |
5 |
44 |
39 |
34.82 |
248997 |
6764603 |
Table 1. Iron assay values for drill holes averaging over 30% Fe over an intersection of >45m.
Davis tube test work on three 9 m composites from the bottom of drill hole 08RCmi989 successfully produced >70% Fe magnetite concentrates with very low levels of impurities, phosphorus, silica and alumina. Detailed results and assays for the three samples are shown in table 2, below.
Sample ID |
Sample |
Davis Tube Recovery |
|||||
Total Fe% |
P % |
SiO2 % |
Al2O3 % |
LOI % |
DTR % weight |
||
Magnetite 1. |
34.07 |
70.8 |
0.008 |
2.06 |
<0.01 |
~3.12 |
44.4 |
Magnetite 2. |
29.31 |
70.4 |
0.008 |
1.92 |
0.01 |
~3.1 |
37.2 |
Magnetite 3. |
35.41 |
71.2 |
0.0055 |
1.32 |
<0.01 |
~3.3 |
47.5 |
Table 2. Results of Davis Tube testwork on three samples from drill hole 08RCM1989
Davis Tube testing is used to separate ferromagnetic and non-magnetic fractions in small samples of approximately 20g at a time. this method is ideally suited to establishing the recoveries likely from a magnetic separation process.
Detailed geological mapping of the central portion of the Mt Ida Project area completed during the year confirmed the fact that the banded iron formation exposed along the western margin of the Mt Ida range occurs as two or three, gently easterly dipping, relatively thick units separated by thinner intercalations of metasedimentary or metavolcanic material. The BIF units can aggregate to over 70m in thickness (Photograph 1) (Figure 2).
Photograph 1.
View of Mt Ida lowest western BIF unit looking east. Photograph was taken from the road at approximately 6763000N. Note gentle easterly dips at 20 to 40 degrees and an estimated thickness of 45 metres.
Figure 1. Mt Ida Project. Geological conceptual cross-section of central part of Mt Ida.
Figure 2. Mt Ida magnetite Cross Section
Rock chip sampling was completed in conjunction with the geological mapping and continuous samples of one or two metre lengths were collected across the near vertical BIF exposures. in all, 145 channel samples were collected over 287m forming 16 transects over a strike length of nearly 6 kilometres. Assay results showed that the average iron grade of the various BIF units was remarkably consistent over all 16 transects consistently returning average values of over 30% Fe (table 3).
|
|
start E
|
start N
|
Finish E
|
Finish N
|
transect
|
Average
|
Average
|
Average
|
Average
|
Average
|
|
CH01 |
247815 |
6764288 |
247780 |
6764270 |
40 |
33.60 |
0.19 |
0.07 |
50.07 |
1.31 |
|
CH02 |
247825 |
6764292 |
247816 |
6764290 |
10 |
35.74 |
0.24 |
0.05 |
47.36 |
1.00 |
|
CH03 |
247737 |
6764879 |
247728 |
6764877 |
16 |
30.59 |
0.22 |
0.03 |
54.31 |
1.47 |
|
CH04 |
247916 |
6765526 |
247893 |
6765522 |
28 |
38.15 |
0.18 |
0.04 |
42.18 |
2.83 |
|
CH05 |
247832 |
6765583 |
247821 |
6765584 |
10 |
37.22 |
0.18 |
0.04 |
45.60 |
0.66 |
|
CH06 |
247877 |
6765847 |
247863 |
6765872 |
26 |
33.07 |
0.31 |
0.06 |
50.07 |
1.92 |
|
CH07 |
247900 |
6763935 |
247887 |
6763933 |
18 |
33.04 |
0.19 |
0.08 |
50.10 |
2.11 |
|
CH08 |
248239 |
6766257 |
248232 |
6766271 |
16 |
36.96 |
0.61 |
0.04 |
45.17 |
1.02 |
|
CH09 |
248388 |
6766896 |
248375 |
6766890 |
12 |
34.48 |
0.25 |
0.01 |
48.02 |
2.18 |
|
CH010 |
249083 |
6761454 |
249072 |
6761449 |
16 |
31.53 |
0.50 |
0.04 |
51.24 |
2.70 |
|
CH011 |
248766 |
6762334 |
248752 |
6762328 |
20 |
32.50 |
0.20 |
0.07 |
51.09 |
1.91 |
|
CH012 |
248547 |
6763061 |
248539 |
6763064 |
15 |
34.50 |
0.56 |
0.04 |
47.21 |
2.57 |
|
CH013 |
249189 |
6762293 |
249180 |
6762295 |
10 |
40.36 |
0.53 |
0.03 |
39.74 |
1.71 |
|
CH014 |
248380 |
6764052 |
248378 |
6764050 |
12 |
32.93 |
0.35 |
0.06 |
50.62 |
1.44 |
|
CH015 |
247857 |
6765262 |
247849 |
6765254 |
15 |
36.95 |
0.13 |
0.03 |
45.16 |
1.65 |
|
CH016 |
247780 |
6764183 |
247762 |
6764170 |
23 |
31.89 |
0.30 |
0.04 |
51.62 |
2.10 |
Table 3. Channel sample results with average grades
ALS CHEMEX - ME- XRF iron ore by Fusion/XRF
No cut off grades were used to calculate the weighted average of each transect.