EXPLORATION
A dedicated iron ore producer, Crosslands holds mining leases in the Jack Hills and Weld Range areas of Western Australia’s mid-west region, about 380 kilometres north-east of Geraldton. We are one of the largest tenement holders in Western Australia’s fast developing mid-west iron ore province. Jack Hills is the only area we have developed to date, although Crosslands is about to embark on a major expansion of our exploration activity.
A resource extension drilling program is underway at our Jack Hills mine, and Crosslands has commenced a major regional exploration initiative. Highlights of this work include:
- First pass drilling at Stewart Bore
- Planned first pass drilling at Weld Range
- The acquisition of an additional prospecting licence at Weld Range
- In-fill drilling at Jack Hills
- Metallurgical testwork at Jack Hills
Crosslands considers both the Stewart Bore and Weld Range tenements to be highly prospective for high grade iron ore mineralisation.
Stewart Bore
An initial program of first pass Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling has been completed at Stewart Bore, 30 kilometres east of the Jack Hills mine.
The Stewart Bore tenement contains several Banded Iron Formation targets that have been structurally thickened and recrystallised to form coarse med-high grade magnetite. There are indications that this material may be amenable to simple beneficiation using magnetic separation at relatively coarse grind sizes.
Approximately 4000 metres of RC drilling was undertaken in this first pass program at Stewart Bore. Further testing is required to confirm whether the material is amenable to magnetic separation.
Weld Range
With the completion of the first pass drilling program at Stewart Bore, an initial RC drilling program is planned for Crosslands’ Weld Range tenements.
At Weld Range West, this program will test outcropping hematite-goethite mineralisation in the Madoonga Formation. This is the same formation which hosts Midwest Corporation Limited’s Madoonga deposit only 15 kilometres along strike and also the Beebyn North group of deposits, a further 20 kilometres along strike. These deposits are reported to contain 64.3 Mt @ 58.3% Fe and 19.0 Mt @ 57.3% Fe respectively.
At Weld Range North, the program will test magnetic anomalies that are continuous from Midwest Beebyn and Beebyn North deposits.
Environmental surveys have been completed and heritage agreements are in place at both Weld Range West and Weld Range North. An area shown to be of cultural significance to the Wajarri people was excluded from the current exploration program.
Mt Hale
The Mt Hale project covers a six-kilometre portion of the Jack Hills area, and is located approximately 130 kilometres north-west of Meekatharra.
Exploration work at Mt Hale consists of two phases – a continuation of sterilisation drilling and water bore drilling, followed by ongoing field mapping, drill planning and environmental and heritage surveys.
Resource drilling, totalling 39,075.5m (206 holes) has been carried out. This has included reverse circulation drilling, diamond drilling, sterilisation drilling and water bore drilling. Over 7,000 samples have been collected and mining consultants are continuing to build a geological model in a bid to estimate the mineral resource at Mt Hale.
Flora and fauna surveys are being carried out on a three-monthly basis.
Noonie Hills
The Noonie Hills tenement contains a discontinuous series of Banded Iron Formations, approximately 13 kilometres long and up to 50 metres above the surrounding plain.
Initial fieldwork commenced at Noonie Hills in April 2006, with focus on hematite enrichment. Mapping and rock chip sampling of the Banded Iron Formations have defined areas of silica depletion which coincide with elevated iron assays.
Drilling (including 14 exploration reverse circulation drill holes and two water bore holes) has identified magnetite rich Banded Iron Formations at depth. It is thought that these could have the potential to provide significant tonnages of iron ore material.
Jack Hills
In addition to the regional exploration drilling, Crosslands is continuing to carry out a resource extension program at its flagship Jack Hills iron ore project, where one RC rig and one diamond drilling rig continue to operate.
The Mt Hale project covers a six-kilometre portion of the Jack Hills area, and is located approximately 130 kilometres north-west of Meekatharra.
Exploration work at Mt Hale consists of two phases - a continuation of sterilisation driling and water bore drilling, followed by ongoing field mapping, drill planning and environmental and heritage surveys.
Resource drilling, totalling 39,075.5m (206 holes) has been carried out. This has included reverse circulation drilling, diamond drilling, sterilisation drilling and water bore drilling. Over 7,000 samples have been collected and mining consultants are continuing to build a geological model in a bid to estimate the mineral resource at Mt Hale.
Flora and fauna surveys are being carried out on a three-monthly basis.
Crosslands has been conducting an extensive metallurgical testwork program, which includes designing a conceptual processing plant and cost estimates for the beneficiation of lower grade magnetite mineralisation present within the banded iron formations at Jack Hills.
