Impact Minerals (ASX:IPT) identifies significant MT conductors at Broken Hill

Impact Minerals has sharpened its geological focus at Broken Hill in New South Wales, reporting that a single line magnetotelluric survey has outlined a conductive corridor extending from approximately 20 km depth toward the surface within its tenure.

The work, supported by reinterpretation of regional AUSLAMP data, is being positioned as evidence of a potential lithospheric scale mineral system beneath the company’s 100% owned ground holding.

Highlights

• Single line MT survey and regional data highlight a conductive corridor extending from ~20 km depth toward surface within Impact’s tenure
• Three near surface conductive zones identified, T1, T2 and T3
• Discrete conductor confirmed at top of priority T3 anomaly, follow up inversion pending
• Corridor occurs adjacent to the Redan Fault and surfaces within a basement embayment beneath the Willyama Supergroup
• Impact holds approximately 2,000 km2 of tenements and over 100 km of prospective strike

The MT line, about 30 km in length, was completed across Impact’s ground coinciding with seismic reflection lines conducted by Geoscience Australia in 1994 and 2001.

A two dimensional inversion of the data has revealed a steeply dipping conductive zone that appears to link the deeper regional conductor, visible in AUSLAMP depth slices at about 20 km, to a near surface anomaly designated T3.

Two additional conductive zones, T1 and T2, occur within 1 km of the surface, although further work is required to interpret these anomalies.

Publicly available AUSLAMP inversion models identified two major conductors about 20 km beneath the surface, one of which reached toward the Redan Fault, interpreted as a crustal scale structure.

In cross section, the conductor sits beneath both the Huonville goldfield and an interpreted sub basin within the Willyama Supergroup, the Proterozoic package that hosts the Broken Hill silver lead zinc deposit of over 500 Mt of massive sulphide mineralisation.

Impact’s Managing Director, Dr Mike Jones, said,

“The significance of these results lies not just in the individual conductors we have identified, but in what they may represent at a district scale. The MT data suggest the presence of a deep crustal corridor capable of focusing mineralising fluids into the upper crust, precisely the type of architecture associated with world class mineral provinces.”

The company notes that although three dimensional inversions suggested the conductive zone might represent a processing artefact, it proceeded with a ground follow up survey over T3.

While final inversion results are pending, a discrete conductor has been identified near the top of the conductive zone.

The conductive zone surfaces within an embayment interpreted as a sub basin of the Willyama Supergroup, a setting described as compelling for sediment hosted base metal mineralisation.

The survey comprised 20 MT readings at 1 km station spacings, with instruments left in the ground for 24 to 48 hours, sample locations recorded by handheld GPS and the survey line oriented approximately perpendicular to the main geological trend.

Broken Hill itself is again attracting exploration attention, with recent corporate activity in the district and sustained increases in gold and silver prices cited as part of the backdrop.

Against that setting, Impact’s strategy is to use deep penetrating geophysics to define structural architecture before committing to drill targeting.

With final inversion results pending over T3, the next phase will determine whether the interpreted connection between deep seated and near surface conductors can translate into a drill ready target within one of Australia’s most storied mineral provinces.

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