EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGY
located in the northern extension of the Røros mining district in central Norway . The contract is valued at C $ 110,000 with the potential for Windfall Geotek to earn shares for targets staked outside the scope of the client ’ s project . The company ’ s Kjøli copper-rich massive sulphide ( VMS ) project represents a districtscale ( 120 km 2 ) land position on the northern extension of the Røros mining district in central Norway , which saw mining for over 300 years beginning in the mid-1600s . The Kjøli Project covers approximately a 15 km strike length of highlyprospective stratigraphy extending north from the past-producing Killingdal mine – which operated from 1674 to 1986 and produced some 2.9 Mt @ 1.7 % Cu + 5.5 % Zn from one of Europe ’ s deepest ( 1.4 km ) underground mines – to the former Kjøli copper mine .
On existing work , Windfall Geotek has announced that its work with Quebec Precious Metals Corporation ( QPM ) reported positive results on the identified high priority gold exploration targets on its Sakamigold project covering an area of 131 km 2 and located in the James Bay area of Quebec . “ The ground work and ultimately the drilling campaign on the High priority CARDS AI generated targets , has once again proven the value that data mining techniques can add to the exploration companies here in Quebec and globally ,” stated Michel Fontaine , Windfall Geotek President & CEO .
Back to Norway and Playfair Mining Ltd , using modern technology to explore its 100 % owned RKV Project in a large historic mining area in south-central Norway , has identified eight target areas considered as potential drill targets . At Sæterfjellet , in the northern part of the RKV Project , Playfair has discovered a coherent MMI Cu anomaly as shown on the detailed map . The anomaly is open to the southeast and contains seven values of MMI Cu greater than 50 times background in an area 125 m long by 50 m wide . The widest and strongest part of the anomaly is on the most southeasterly line and the anomaly limit has not yet been defined .
Sæterfjellet is broadly on strike and less than 4 km north of the historic copper mines at Kvikne . Of particular note , there is no record of any previous exploration work in the immediate area . Don Moore , CEO of Playfair , comments , “ Discovery of another high priority drill target in a previously unexplored area along the geological trend from a past-producing mine further validates our approach to exploration on the RKV Project . We are confident that further work on the six remaining target areas , now augmented with the recently completed drone aeromagnetic surveys , will generate additional drill targets . Permitting work is ongoing and will be expanded , as warranted , to include new drill targets .”
Detailed drone aeromagnetic surveys were recently carried out over six Target Areas . Five areas were completed though the sixth , Børsjøhø , was flown only partially after the unmanned octocopter crashed due to a gap in the digital terrain model . All results have been received and are currently under interpretation .
Work to date has allowed Playfair to reduce the exploration area to 201 m 2 with a primary focus on the eight Target Areas .
The Norwegian Geological Survey ( NGU ) Ore Database documented 29 Deposit Areas on the RKV Project with historic production from four Deposit Areas , including two historic copper mines , Kvikne and Røstvangen . A drilled nickel-copper deposit , Vakkerlien , also occurs on the Property . Playfair used an extensive digital database maintained by NGU as the basis for the initial evaluation of the area . To prioritise areas of the property for further exploration , Playfair contracted Windfall Geotek to carry out its proprietary CARDS platform on the entire RKV Project . The targets generated by CARDS covered less than 1 % of the RKV Project area evaluated .
Twenty-six of the CARDS targets were then evaluated by MMI ( Mobile Metal Ion ) soil geochemistry , a proven advanced geochemical exploration technique known to find mineral deposits . A total of 1,926 samples , including field duplicates , were taken in four phases of MMI fieldwork . Seventeen of the twenty-six CARDS targets evaluated yielded MMI values greater than 50 times background in one or more of copper , cobalt , or nickel .
Playfair is continuing to interpret and compile its recent survey results with the goal of developing additional drill targets . A property-wide target assessment of the multi-phase MMI surveys and drone magnetic maps will be provided in due course .
SensOre expands scope to REEs and base metals
Melbourne , Australia-based SensOre says its proprietary Discriminant Predictive Targeting ® ( DPT ® ) technology combined with data cube allows discovery to be focused at a discrete cell level , creating a unique simultaneous one-step process using all data to generate drill ready targets . Its data cube combines + 2,500 layers of data , cleaned and integrated , into a predictive model that can move in one pass from the regional scale to drill target .
The company recently expanded its scope to include rare earth elements ( REE ) and base metals targets , with a focus on copper and nickel . The first of
Melbourne , Australia-based SensOre says its proprietary Discriminant Predictive Targeting ® ( DPT ® ) technology combined with data cube allows discovery to be focused at a discrete cell level
SensOre ’ s next generation base metals targets is the Moonera prospect held through subsidiary SensOre Yilgarn Ventures ( SYV ), in joint-venture with private company Nullabor Resources Pty . Ltd . SYV can earn up to an 80 % interest in the prospect by expending A $ 3 million within three years .
SensOre ’ s technology was used to predict and define the source as a mafic intrusive body , illustrating the benefits of SensOre ’ s development of base metals training datasets .
“ The ongoing collection , cleaning and aggregation of data into a massive data cube enhances SensOre ’ s capacity to diversify target types beyond gold – an integral aspect of SensOre ’ s business strategy . SensOre is well placed to benefit from recent base metals commodity price increases and growing interest in the supply of critical minerals , including REE .”
The Moonera prospect is a large ( 7 x 5 km ), dense and magnetic body . The DPT system confirmed previous interpretations of gravity and magnetic surveys and has predicted a concealed target . Models for a zoned and potentially mineralised intrusivebody include a carbonatite with characteristics similar to Phalaborwa and Mount Weld . The target is under 350- 450 m of cover and may qualify for WA Exploration Incentive Scheme co-funded drilling . A work program to develop drill targets includes infill gravity and magnetic surveys in early 2021 with planned drilling in Q3 2021 .
SensOre also has other tools at its disposal including AGLADS ® is a proprietary application of machine learning used in detection of alteration and primary geochemical dispersion as an exploration tool for Archaean Gold Lode Systems . The tool specifically addresses the problems associated with : n Determining characteristic geochemical signatures of the dispersion haloes enveloping lode-gold deposits n Quantifying the size of a primary dispersion halo
12 International Mining | FEBRUARY 2021