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Santa Fe to go ahead with another drill hole

SU14-07 confirms the presence of Sullivan Time host rocks
Sully update section MAY06.pptx
A map of the two drill holes.

Santa Fe Metals continues to explore the possibility of a Sullivan Mine type deposit near Fort Steele.

Company president Scott Broughton said this week that drill hole SU14-07 had reached a completion depth of 1289 and had confirmed the presence of the type of host rocks in “Sullivan time”  that suggest the type of gravity mass being sought. Broughton says a new drill hole will begin immediately on a trajectory to intersect the East Target at approximately 900 m below surface.

“SU14-­‐07 revealed that Aldridge Formation unit A1c is the likely host to the East Target — this directly correlates with the stratigraphy that hosts the Sullivan orebody, 30 kms to the west of Sully. Aldridge units A1a (lowest), A1b and A1c were deposited on the Fort Steele  Formation and all four units correlate  with  the  lower  Aldridge  Formation at Sullivan  and  elsewhere  in  the basin.  A marked thickening of A1c  in SU14-­‐07 implies proximity to an accumulation centre of an inferred sub-­‐basin assemblage. Within this thickening is a 50 m interval containing traces of lead, zinc and copper sulphides and unusual thin silica beds thought to be derived from hydrothermal solutions associated with formation of a mineral deposit.

“The East Target is one of two gravity mass anomalies estimated to come within 800-­‐m of surface, and extending to depth. Coincident magnetic anomalies reinforce the positioning of the large-­scale gravity masses also estimated to be approximately 800 m apart. Management believes the best explanation for the twin gravity anomalies is the presence of two  very large vertically oriented  SEDEX massive sulphide bodies,” Broughton said.

This is not the first time a search has been undertaken for the other half of the Sullivan orebody. It is generally acknowledged that the large deposit that fed the Sullivan Mine in Kimberley for a hundred years appeared to have been sheered off, or cut in half. Broughton himself, and the project geologist Paul Ransom, were involved in the Sullivan Deeps drill program in the Mark Creek watershed several years ago. That program drilled several deep holes but although it reached target, it did not find the mass the team was looking for.

 



Carolyn Grant

About the Author: Carolyn Grant

I have been with the Kimberley Bulletin since 2001 and have enjoyed every moment of it.
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