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Summary
- All ten exploration licences, comprising Middle Island’s Barkly super-project, have been approved by the NT Government for granting.
- The formal grant is dependent on the lifting of coronavirus travel limitations or at the Company’s earlier election.
- MDI has opted not to trigger the official grant at this stage.
- The new ELs comprise of three sites reserved for government stratigraphic drilling of the Proterozoic basement, in addition to further deep seismic traverses.
The stock of ASX-listed gold explorer, Middle Island Resources Limited (ASX:MDI) marked an uptick of 5 per cent to $0.021 following the Company’s update on its 100%-owned Barkly super-project in the Northern Territory (NT).
Middle Island has recently announced that all of its ten exploration licence applications, comprising the Barkly super-project, have been approved for granting by the NT government.
The Company informed that the NT Department of Primary Industry and Resources (DPIR) has offered to withhold formal granting of the licences until the coronavirus travel restrictions are lifted or at its earlier election. In response, Middle Island has opted not to trigger the official grant at this stage.
MDI’s Exploration Licences in Barkly Area
Middle Island’s Barkly Super-Project includes ten exploration licences (ELs) encompassing 3,253km2 , extending semi-continuously for more than 350km along the axis of the East Tennant basement ridge, extending east from Tennant Creek across the Barkly Tableland to the Queensland border.
Five of the Company’s ELs in the Barkly area surround or immediately adjoin those of Newcrest Mining applications along the axis of the East Tennant Ridge, while those in the Tennant Creek area adjoin Rio Tinto tenure, offering a strong endorsement of the project’s technical merit.
Several of the Company’s ELs also include or immediately adjoin multiple areas reserved for the highly expected EFTF (Exploring for the Future) basement stratigraphic drilling and further deep seismic traverses, initially planned to be conducted during 2020, which may now be delayed due to coronavirus limitations.
The EFTF is a collaborative initiative of Federal and Territory/State Governments, dedicated to investigating Australia’s resource potential and fostering investment. Notably, the Barkly project tenure comprises, or lies immediately peripheral to, priority targets and corridors discovered from pre-competitive research data produced under this initiative.
Significance of Barkly Super-Project
The Barkly super-project positions Middle Island as a first-mover and one of the major tenement holders within the recently discovered East Tennant province.
The East Tennant province extends beneath Georgina Basin cover throughout the Barkly Tableland that is believed to be highly prospective for Tier 1 iron oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) deposits. The exploration model of the Barkly project is in harmony with recent significant mineral discoveries in basement rocks reported from ‘blind’ targets veneered by younger sedimentary cover in Western Australia’s Paterson Province (Havieron and Winu) and extensions of the prolific Victorian gold belts under Murray Basin sedimentary cover (Tandarra and Four Eagles).
Middle Island also highlighted some key examples of ‘blind’ Tier 1 IOCG deposits discovered beneath the significant sedimentary cover, which include BHP Group Limited’s Oak Dam and Olympic Dam deposits in South Australia’s Gawler Craton that are respectively overlain by around 400m and 900m of post-mineral sedimentary cover.
In addition to phosphate exploration within the overlying Georgina Basin, the East Tennant Ridge is of particular significance due to extremely limited or non-existent exploration activity within the Proterozoic basement rocks. Moreover, substantial deposits of IOCG and sedimentary exhalative (Sedex) similarity occur within Proterozoic basement rocks peripheral to the Georgina Basin.
Way Ahead
Subsequent to the ease of COVID-19 travel restrictions and formal granting of ELs, Middle Island intends to focus on the following areas with respect to its Barkly super-project:
- stakeholder engagement,
- the capture of any outstanding open file and pre-competitive data,
- more detailed modelling of identified exploration targets, and
- the planning of high-resolution geophysical surveys to improve modelled targets in preparation for drill testing.
Notably, the Barkly super-project represents a second string to the Company’s bow, with its immediate focus strongly finalising the feasibility study on the advanced Sandstone gold project in Western Australia, with a view to recommissioning that project early in 2021.
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