The Perrinvale Project
Early stage VHMS exploration in Tier 1 location in Western Australia
The Perrinvale Project is based on a large conterminous group of nine exploration licenses (and one miscellaneous license) totalling 306km², held by Toucan Gold Pty Ltd (Toucan Gold), a wholly owned subsidiary of Cobre.
The project is located approximately 260km NW of Kalgoorlie in the Yilgarn Craton of Western Australia. While base metals were identified in the area in the early 1970’s, subsequent exploration has predominantly been focused on gold and iron ore, with significant historic near-surface high-grade copper and zinc results.
Located on the eastern side of the Youanmi Terrane, at this early stage of geological understanding, the project geology could fit the bimodal mafic or potentially mafic back arc-ophiolite VHMS setting, unlike Western Australia’s preeminent VHMS deposits of Gossan Hill and Scuddles at Golden Grove, which are hosted in a bimodal-siliciclastic setting.
While explorers looking for the next Golden Grove might rightly walk away from the Panhandle and Illaara Greenstone Belts, similar mafic dominant settings are known to host some globally significant VHMS deposits, such as:
- Flin Flon deposit Canada 50Mt, in a bimodal mafic setting,
- Buribai Lod deposit Urals 13Mt, in a bimodal mafic to backarc setting, and
- Mavrovouni deposit Cyprus 15Mt, in a mafic back arc-ophiolite setting.
Cobre’s approach to Perrinvale considers that VHMS deposits are known to occur in clusters (or camps), with individual deposits often formed in the same stratigraphic position or at different stratigraphic levels along ‘feeder’ faults. With the early confirmation of the VHMS potential via drilling at the Schwabe Prospect, Cobre is focused on assessing the entire tenement package to unlock the broader potential. In parallel with developing a comprehensive understanding of the local geology, a combination of the latest airborne and ground geophysics is being applied to the Perrinvale Project.
Maiden Mineral Resource Estimate
Table 1: Schwabe MRE showing tonnage, grade and contained metal at a 0.2% Cu cut-off grade
| Category | Kt | Density (t/m3) |
Grade | Contained Metal | ||||||||||
| Cu % |
Zn % |
Co % |
Pb % |
Au ppm |
Ag ppm |
Cu tonnes |
Zn tonnes |
Co tonnes |
Pb tonnes |
Au oz |
Ag oz |
|||
| Indicated | 115 | 3 | 2 | 1.6 | 0.05 | 0.04 | 0.54 | 7.99 | 2,320 | 1,810 | 50 | 60 | 1,990 | 29,650 |
| Inferred | 157 | 2.9 | 1.2 | 1 | 0.03 | 0.03 | 0.33 | 5 | 1,920 | 1,550 | 50 | 50 | 1,680 | 25,240 |
| Total MRE | 272 | 2.9 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 0.04 | 0.03 | 0.42 | 6.27 | 4,240 | 3,360 | 90 | 103 | 3,670 | 54,890 |
Notes:
- Numbers may not total due to rounding and reporting to appropriate level of significant figures
- Refer to ASX Announcement dated 5th April 2023 – Perrinvale VHMS Project Maiden Mineral Resource
Perrinvale Project Timeline
2024:
- Reconnaissance field programme at the Mt Alfred and Brooking Hills areas on the east side of the project, along with areas on the southern part of the Panhandle Greenstone Belt on the west of the project.
- A potentially gossanous horizon was identified in the Mt Alfred area.
2023:
- Cobre defined a Volcanic Hosted Massive Sulphide Mineral Resource at the Schwabe Deposit (refer ASX announcement of 5 April 2023).
- At Perrinvale, tenement E29/986 has been subject to a compulsory partial surrender involving the surrender of eight graticular sub-blocks.
- The drilling represents initial testing of two of the target areas identified via the boots on the ground exploration completed by the Company. Samples were submitted to the laboratory in December 2022, with results awaited at the end of the Quarter..
2020:
- Diamond Drilling at Zinco Lago Prospect
2019:
- An Airborne Electromagnetic (AEM) survey was flown over approximately one-third of the project area, and this has been a key input in guiding initial field-based exploration activities beyond the early prospects of Schwabe, Zinco Lago, Monti.
- Massive Sulphides from RC Drilling at Schwabe Prospect.