REG - Empire Metals Ltd - Giant Copper Province Potential Confirmed by DD-IP

Empire MetalsAnnouncement

06/02/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 9179O  Empire Metals Limited  06 February 2023

Empire Metals Limited / LON: EEE / Sector: Natural Resources

 

06 February 2023

Empire Metals Limited

("Empire" or "the Company")

 

Geophysical Survey Results Confirm Pitfield's Potential as a Giant Copper
Province

 

Empire Metals Limited (LON: EEE), the AIM-quoted resource exploration and
development company, is pleased to announce the results of the Dipole - Dipole
Induced Polarisation ("DD-IP") surveys carried out at the Pitfield Copper
Project ("Pitfield"), located in Western Australia.

 

Highlights

·    DD-IP surveys have identified multiple drilling targets and provided
further evidence to support the view that Pitfield has the potential to
contain multiple sediment-hosted stratabound copper ("SSC") deposits across a
40km long, massive alteration footprint.

o  identification of several anomalies with chargeable values that exceed the
threshold that would be considered characteristic of the presence of
disseminated sulphides.

o  these chargeable and highly resistive anomalies are closely associated
with the magnetite-altered stratigraphy and are coincident with strong copper
anomalism in both soils and rocks.

o  located in the same vicinity as the high-grade soil and rock samples that
were recently collected (announced 30 January 2023) these chargeable anomalies
add further evidence to support the possible presence of SCC deposits.

o  the highly chargeable anomaly detected in three DD-IP survey lines just
southwest of Mt Scratch appears to be very extensive, covering an area of at
least 1,500m in length and up to 800m wide.

o  A second highly chargeable anomaly was identified in a DD-IP line 12km
south of and broadly along the same geological trend as Mt Scratch.

·    Completion of the initial soil sampling and DD-IP surveying is
expected in Q1 2023 with a view to expediting a maiden drill programme at
Pitfield to better understand the geology and to determine the significance of
these highly chargeable-highly resistive zones.

 

Shaun Bunn, Managing Director, said: "I am delighted to provide an update on
our initial DD-IP survey activities, a reconnaissance mission focussing on
areas that were previously under-explored by the major mining companies that
have worked the area.  These highly encouraging results from the DD-IP
surveys suggest the presence of large, disseminated sulphide mineralised
zones, thus providing multiple drill targets and providing another leap
forward in our plans to commence drilling activities at Pitfield.

 

"Our immediate focus will be on drilling at the Mt Scratch Prospect, where we
have identified a massive highly chargeable anomaly. It is important to note
that the Mt Scratch Prospect on its own only represents 5% of the overall
project area. The coincidence of multiple highly chargeable anomalies,
extensive magnetite alteration and elevated copper in soils and rocks,
extending over much of the 40km long N-S massive alteration zone, supports our
view that Pitfield has the geological hallmarks of a "Giant" copper
mineralised system and we intend to continue our soil sampling and DD-IP
surveying activities over the coming months to identify additional drill
targets."

 

DD-IP Survey Results

Induced Polarisation ("IP") is a survey technique where electrodes induce and
measure a potential field in the ground. From this data, the soil
chargeability and apparent resistivity can be measured (for more details on IP
and DD-IP refer to the section "Dipole-Dipole Array Explained").

 

Five traverses of DD-IP for a total of 8,450 Line metres (refer Table 1 and
Figure 1) were completed by contractor Kinematix Pty Ltd from 8-17 December
2022 over selected exploration targets considered geologically favourable for
SSC systems.

 

 

 Name       Length  Min       Min        Max       Max

                    Easting   Northing   Easting   Northing
 Line PM01  2000    367950    6753800    369950    6753800
 Line PM02  1850    368100    6753000    369950    6753000
 Line PM03  1700    368300    6752250    370000    6752350
 Line PM04  1200    370600    6752000    371800    6752000
 Line GC01  1700    370500    6739000    372200    6739000

Table 1.DD-IP Survey Lines completed (GDA2020 MGA Z50)

 

 

 

Figure 1.              Location of the five DD-IP Survey
Traverses.

 

One of these key exploration targets was the Mt Scratch Prospect where Lines
PM01, PM02 and PM03 were completed on 800m spaced sections to evaluate known
copper anomalism and strong magnetite alteration of host sandstone and
siltstone rock sequences (Figure 2).

 

Recent soils results in this area also show an association of elevated copper
values with the magnetite-altered stratigraphy, and rock samples from surface
float (originally shallow prospector workings which have subsequently been
backfilled) recorded copper values up to 17.9% Cu and 125 g/t Ag, a very
encouraging indicator that copper-silver sulphides are present in the area.

 

 

Figure 2.              High copper-in-soil and rock samples
collected surface in close proximity to DD-IP traverses.

 

The data quality was considered to be very good for most of the DD-IP lines at
Pitfield, with the exception of PM04 where conductive overburden caused low
signal levels. The chargeability highs seen in the dataset are predominantly
associated closely with zones of higher resistivity which could be explained
by the effects of hydrothermal alteration such as silicification.

 

The IP Inversion models were processed by Terra Resources Pty Ltd ("Terra").
Terra specialises in geophysical survey design, acquisition, processing,
modelling, inversion, data integration, interpretation and drill hole
targeting. Terra uses the Newmont standard chargeability for processing of
time-domain IP data.  The chargeability is integrated over a window of 450 -
1,100 ms.  This is done to reduce the effects of EM coupling, and to provide
a consistent gauge of chargeability vs sulphide content.

 

The IP Inversion models for DD-IP traverses PM01-03 and GC01 are presented
below. The IP Inversion models have been coloured to highlight in red areas
where the chargeability exceeds 15mV/V, which is indicative of permissive
sulphide zones.

 

 

Figure 3                PM01 (L6753800N) - Sulphide Cutoff (15
mV/V) Colouring

Figure 4                PM02 (L6753000N) - Sulphide Cutoff (15
mV/V) Colouring

 

Figure 5                PM03 (L6752250N) - Sulphide Cutoff (15
mV/V) Colouring

Terra Resources description of each traverse is summarised below:

 

PM01: highly chargeable zone extends across entire 800m width of magnetic
stratigraphic units The high-grade copper in rock chips returned from surface
float is located on the eastern edge of the IP chargeability feature in Figure
3 which also closely matches the highest chargeability values. A second
smaller IP anomaly is located close to a magnetic feature at the eastern end
of the line.

 

PM02: the 800m wide chargeable zone matches PM01, with the zone shifting to
the East with the strike of the magnetic stratigraphy, and highest
chargeability values also close to the eastern side of the IP high feature
(Figure 4)

 

PM03: highly chargeable zones developed at edges of the most magnetic unit
with large East-West trending fault interpreted from the magnetic data
directly to the South (Figure 5).

 

GC01: chargeable zone coincides with a subtle discrete magnetic feature with
NNW strike. (Figure 6).

 

Figure 6.              GC01 (L6739000N) - Sulphide Cutoff
(15mV/V) Colouring

 

Figure 7:              Magnetic Inversion Comparison to
Chargeable Zones Plan

 

Figure 7 shows regions of high chargeability (pink > 15 mV/V) from IP
survey (yellow) over magnetics in plan view. The magnetics are linearly colour
stretched on different colour scales to emphasise structural features.

 

In the images presented below chargeability inversion sections are compared
with 3D magnetic inversions in order to demonstrate a strong correlation in
the two independent datasets between magnetite alteration and possible
presence of sulphides (Figures 8 and 9.).

 

Figure 8:              Magnetic Inversion Comparison to
Chargeability Sections 3D View - PM01- 04

 

These images show the spatial comparison between 3D magnetic inversion volumes
(pink) and 2D IP inversion sections. The IP sections have been colour-scaled
to show sulphide-permissive zones (>15mV/V - Newmont standard
chargeability) in red. The section spacing of the IP sections PM01-PM03 is
approximately 800m, demonstrating potential continuity of the IP feature for
at least 1,500m.

 

The large high magnetic susceptibility body in the western part of the area,
shows a strong spatial association with high chargeability, most intensely
developed in line PM02. Geological mapping shows stratigraphy is dipping
moderately to steeply east, so magnetic (modelled to moderate depths of
several hundred metres) and IP features (modelled to maximum of 200m depth)
would be expected to extend to depth in this orientation, as would any
associated SSC mineralisation.

 

There is a subordinate, thinner high magnetic/IP zone in the eastern side of
PM01-03.

 

PM04 does not show this same magnetic/IP correlation with only weak IP and
magnetic anomalism present, possibly due to the highly conductive surface
layer and commensurate weak basement IP signal.

 

In the case of GC01 (Figure 9) geological mapping confirmed that the strongly
magnetic feature located in the centre of the section is associated with a
structural repetition of the Beaconsfield conglomerate, part of the lower
red-bed sequence. The location of the IP feature on the eastern end of the
line is highly significant in terms of the SSC model - potentially close to
the expected position of the first reduced layer within the overlying Mt
Scratch sequence.

Figure 9.              Magnetic Inversion Comparison to
Chargeability Sections 3D View - GC01

 

Dipole-Dipole Array Explained

 

IP surveys can be acquired using a multitude of array types, including Dipole
- Dipole, Pole - Dipole, Pole - Pole, Gradient, Schlumberger and Wenner. The
Dipole - Dipole array is one of the more common techniques used due to a
number of advantages, including its speed, its high resolution and
multi-channel capability, and because it provides a very detailed image
instead of providing a "big picture" image such as the Wenner array.

 

A dipole is a pair of oppositely charged electrodes that are so close together
that the electric field seems to form a single electric field rather than a
field from two different electric poles. The dipole-dipole array consists of a
current electrode pair and a potential electrode pair and it offers a way to
plot raw data in order to get an idea of a cross-section of the earth. Those
using the dipole-dipole array look at a measurement value called apparent
resistivity, which represents a weighted average of the resistivities under
the four electrodes used to take the reading. The apparent resistivity is
typically calculated by modern instruments from the geometry between the four
electrodes and the injected current and measured potential.

 

The dipole-dipole method has made it easier to visualise the collected data in
the form of 2D handmade contour plots. The result of a dipole-dipole survey is
plotted in a pseudo-section. For each measurement, the apparent resistivity
data is plotted at the midpoint between the two dipoles and at a depth half
the distance between the two dipoles.

 

The value is finally contoured and colorised, which represents an image of the
subsurface. So while this array doesn't provide an actual image of the ground,
the data points resulting from these measurements provide an image of the
cross section that can then be interpreted by the geophysicists. With the use
of inversion software these apparent resistivity and chargeability values can
be converted to "true" resistivity and chargeability values so that a
realistic image of the ground can be created.

 

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure

Certain information contained in this announcement would have been deemed
inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No
596/2014, as incorporated into UK law by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act
2018, until the release of this announcement.

 

**ENDS**

 

For further information please visit www.empiremetals.co.uk
(http://www.empiremetals.co.uk)   or contact:

 Empire Metals Ltd                                                                       Tel: 020 7907 9327

 Shaun Bunn / Greg Kuenzel
 S. P. Angel Corporate Finance LLP (Nomad & Broker)                                      Tel: 020 3470 0470

 Ewan Leggat / Adam Cowl
 Shard Capital Partners LLP (Joint Broker)                                               Tel: 020 7186 9950

 Damon Heath
 St Brides Partners Ltd (Financial                                                       Tel: 020 7236 1177
 PR)

 Susie Geliher / Ana Ribeiro / Max Bennett

 

About Empire Metals Limited
Empire Metals is an AIM-listed (LON: EEE) exploration and resource development company with a project portfolio comprising gold interests in Australia and Austria.

 

The Company's strategy is to develop a pipeline of projects at different stages in the development curve. Its initial focus has been on the high-grade Eclipse and Gindalbie Gold Projects in Western Australia.  The Company expanded its exploration licence area in April 2022 from 9.5km(2) to 1,728km(2) with the acquisition of the Pitfield Copper-Gold Project and the Walton Copper-Gold Project in Western Australia, and the Stavely Copper-Gold Project in the Stavely Arc region of Victoria.

 

Empire also holds a portfolio of three precious metals projects located an historically high-grade gold production region comprising the Rotgulden, Schonberg and Walchen prospects in central-southern Austria.

 

The Board continues to evaluate opportunities through which to realise the
value of its wider portfolio and reviews further assets which meet the
Company's investment criteria.

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