Widgiemooltha (E15/615, E15/837, P15/4638, P15/4639, P15/4357, P15/4358) and Dordie Rocks South (P15/4713)
Overview
In addition to its prospective iron ore holdings, Jupiter is well positioned to exploit other minerals opportunities. The Company’s Widgiemooltha Project is located in a prime location for hosting a nickel sulphide body. This year Jupiter also acquired a tenement called Dordie Rocks South which will form part of the project area. Four TEM Conductors on the project area remain untested.
Consistent with the Company’s approach to securing leases in known provinces with proximity to established infrastructure, Jupiter’s nickel tenements are in an area that has good access to roads, power, and a public railway. A nickel smelter is also located within a short trucking distance.
Location
The Widgiemooltha Project tenements are located approximately 28km south southeast of Widgiemooltha town site. The Esperance to Kalgoorlie Highway provides good access to the area.
History
Anglo Gold (Anglo) and Western Mining Corporation (WMC) were the main historical explorers. Anglo was focused on gold and WMC’s primary interest was nickel mineralisation. Both explorers conducted drill hole programs that returned nickel and gold intercepts. Table 2 below summarises the mineralisation intercepted during the drilling programs.
Table 2.
Aircore Drill Hole Intercepts greater than 0.25 g/t Gold over the Cassini Prospect in the Northern Part of Exploration Licence 15/625, Widgiemooltha Property.
2003-2006
Jupiter entered into an option agreement to acquire the licence in September 2003. The Company reviewed all previous exploration with specific emphasis on the potential for nickel and gold mineralisation. Rock chips from mineralised section of WRAC 126 were sent for petrographic study and the presence of pentlandite, bravoite, chalcopyrite, and pyrite was confirmed.
Jupiter also commissioned an interpretation of imagery developed from aeromagnetic data available over the licence area. In all, 16 targets based on the magnetic images were identified. Six of the targets were considered nickel targets, two gold and nickel targets, and the remainder gold targets. The major target was the Cassini Prospect centred on hole number WMAC126.
A two hole RC drilling programme (total 234m) was undertaken on the Cassini Prospect close to WMAC126. High grade nickel mineralisation was intercepted in the base of JMSWRC 1 (4m @ 2.75 Ni). Broad zones of low grade nickel mineralisation (>0.5%Ni) were found in both holes.
Geology
The property covers an area of the western and south-eastern flanks of the Widgiemooltha Dome. Doming is associated with intrusion of a large monzogranite complex where a north north-westerly trending tightly folded and faulted layered Archaean greenstone succession has been intruded by monzogranite complex.
Nickel sulphide mineralisation in the district is associated with high magnesium komatiitic lava flows. The base of channel flow facies is most prospective for nickel deposits usually associated with the lowermost channel flow volcanic event.
Nickel sulphide mineralisation in this area often comprises a lower massive sulphide zone overlain by a matrix sulphide zone and a halo of disseminated sulphides. Typically, these deposits are tabular or ribbon-like or are made up of a series of pod-like bodies along a linear trend.
Essentially, gold mineralisation in the district is associated with the Archaean greenstone rock types. Mineralisation occurs as: quartz-pyrite veins along contact zones between felsic and mafic-ultramafic rock types; in quartz veins associated with felsic rocks; in quartz veins and disseminated sulphide alteration zones in mafic rocks; and vein quartz associated with metasedimentary rocks.
Exploration
Jupiter’s programme includes detailed assessment of the Cassini nickel prospect together with ongoing exploration of the other targets on E15/625. Outer-rim Exploration Services was contracted to carry out 94.8 line km of moving loop 35 line km of fixed loop TEM survey (figure 9). The survey was supervised by Southern Geosciences Consultants and they carried out all processing and modelling of the data. Of the 11 conductors found, nine were deemed to be of interest during the survey. A RC drill program consisting of 16 angled holes was carried out to test the conductors. The program was carried out between March and April with 1778m of drilling performed and six conductors were drill tested.
Two holes intercepted lithologies of interest with associated sulphide mineralisation. These are JRC007 & JRC008. Down hole TEM was carried out on these two holes with narrow conductors being detected approximately between the two holes. The drilling confirms that a number of the conductors had a sedimentary origin and that more work is needed to tie geophysical data to a geological model for target evaluation.
Figure 9.
TEM (Scale: 1:60,000).