CENTREX METALS LIMITED - ASX: CXM

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Description

Centrex Metals Ltd has extensive tenement holdings over iron ore resources and exploration targets on Eyre Peninsula in the southern Gawler Craton adjacent to existing rail/port facilities.

The resources and targets are mainly within the early Proterozoic Middleback Subgroup sequence of banded iron formations (BIF) that host the historically important and currently operating iron ore mines of the Middleback Range (Onesteel Ltd). The extensive iron formations of Eyre Peninsula contain significant inferred resources of hematite and/or magnetite banded iron formation. Both historical and recent assays and metallurgical work have confirmed their potential and furthermore, the compositions of magnetic separations are favourable with high iron and low silica, alumina, phosphorous, alkalis and manganese.

Wilgerup EL 3317 is located on farmland in central Eyre Peninsula just SE of Lock and only 16–18 km E of the railway from Port Lincoln. There is no outcrop in the immediate vicinity, the whole area being overlain by sand dunes and unconsolidated Tertiary sand (total ca. 20m) with saline groundwater at the base. The Polda Basin, a narrow E-W intracratonic graben containing Carboniferous to Jurassic sediments cuts across the northern part of Wilgerup EL 3317.

Cockabidnie EL 2815 covers an area of diverse geology. Beneath the thin veneer of sand, clay and calcrete, basement rocks are largely Middleback Subgroup schist, amphibolite and BIF but these are intruded by granite that has been deformed along with the metasediments to form granite gneiss. This gneiss occupies the eastern half of the tenement. In the SW quadrant of the tenement, the metasediments and granite gneiss are overlain unconformably by Mesoproterozoic sandstone and conglomerate of the Blue Range Beds. The latter are locally hematitic.

Greenpatch EL 2816 is a high priority target located only 10km NW of Port Lincoln. Previous work identified two prospects at Greenpatch: the main outcropping jaspilite area and a small hematite prospect in Section 147.

Located near Wanilla, approximately 20–30km NNW of Port Lincoln and 10km from Greenpatch, the Bald Hill project comprises two exploration licenses, EL 3269 and EL 2905 with sparsely outcropping BIF targets and prospects. Two of the principal prospects, Charleton Gully and Bald Hill, are located along a series of long, moderately intense, NNE-trending aeromagnetic anomalies that extend for over 20 km. At their northern end they are truncated by an E-W structure that extends through Koppio.

Koppio aeromagnetic anomaly is 35km north of Port Lincoln and was investigated by SADM during the 1960’s (Shackleton, 1964a; Robinson, 1964). Outcrop comprises a series of jaspilite units or horizons that have been folded about relatively open N- to NW-plunging folds. Surface rock chip samples assay ca. 40% acid soluble Fe.

The main Iron Mount magnetite prospect is located on a quite strong and reasonably large aeromagnetic anomaly along strike from Iron Mount Mine, where small parcels of hematite and limonite were mined in the early twentieth century and shipped to Port Pirie. Samples collected from an adit in the old mines averaged 39.3% Fe over 9m and another sample from the bottom of the main shaft assayed 42.1% Fe.

The Carrow prospect is a 4km long, 2km wide, intense NE-SW aeromagnetic anomaly midway between Port Lincoln and Whyalla 6km NNW of Port Neill.

The Mount Hill prospects are located on south central Eyre Peninsula, EL 2905, 18-25km W and WNW of Port Neill. They are located on the northern edge of the Lincoln Uplands under unconsolidated Cainozoic sediments and, immediately N of Mount Hill railway siding, Mesoproterozoic sediments of the Blue Range Beds. The Port Lincoln-Kimba railway line extends through the centre of the prospect area.

The Bungalow and Minbrie BIF prospects are located on the eastern coastal plain of NE Eyre Peninsula 9km NNW and 16km N of Cowell respectively. They are both located immediately E of the Cleve Uplands under unconsolidated Cainozoic sediments along the western margin of the Cowell Basin. Both prospects are on a broad (>800m wide) 18km-long NE-trending very intense aeromagnetic anomaly; a fault just W of Minbrie separates the anomaly into two segments distinguished as Bungalow and Minbrie.

Stony Hill is located 22km W of Iron Baron and, along with its associated aeromagnetic anomaly, has a strike length ca. 6km and estimated width of 90-180m. A shallow (<40m) deposit of oxidised BIF grading ca. 30% Fe has been identified at Stony Hill (Davies, 2000). In outcrop, jaspilites are comprised of medium-grained quartz-hematite (and magnetite) BIF with minor amphibole (cummingtonite). Grainsize is coarser (0.03-3mm) than BIF in the Middleback Range.

Kimba Gap, Sometimes also known as Sinclairs Gap, this area is the gap between the northern and southern Middleback Range. The gap is due to synformal keel structures in the ranges and also to a series of NW-trending faults that locally offset the BIF and other units.

Ironstone hill & ironstone hut contain outcropping BIF but are relatively small by comparison with some of the other targets identified. However, they are very favourably located with respect to the existing railway to and infrastructure at Iron Duke.

Mine For

iron ore

Location of operation(s)

South Australia

Address

Level 3 , 100 Pirie Street
ADELAIDE, SA, AUSTRALIA

Phone

(08) 8232 8800

Email

Website

http://www.centrexmetals.com.au

Last Updated

29/04/2010