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Cockabidnie
Campoona Nickel Discovery
Lincoln Minerals has discovered lateritic nickel mineralisation in the Campoona Syncline within the Company's Cockabidnie Project.
Mineralisation up to 0.7% Ni + 0.05% Co occurs at a depth of about 15-20m beneath shallow cover and overlies gabbroic amphibolite with up to 0.1% Ni in fresh bedrock. The aeromagnetic and calcrete anomalies associated with mineralisation extend over a strike length of 5km.
The Cockabidnie area has been the focus of base metal, gold and uranium exploration sporadically since the late 1960s. It has potential for unconformity uranium mineralisation associated with the base of the Mesoproterozoic Blue Range Beds base metal, gold and iron ore mineralisation associated with the BIF-marble-calcsilicate sequence extending south and southwest from the Stanley Mine and nickel-cobalt mineralisation associated with mafic volcanics or intrusives in the BIF sequence.
Previous exploration centred on the Campoona Syncline where there are high background base metal geochemcial (up to 1% Zn and 0.9% Pb in outcrop samples) and Sirotem anomalies associated with BIFs. Previous drilling 5km ENE of Cockabidnie Corner intersected intervals up to 5m @ 1.14% Zn and 0.11% Pb while more recent drilling by Lincoln Minerals intersected 18m @ 0.8% Zn+Pb and 2.17g/t Ag including 2m @ 2.4% Zn+Pb and 3.34g/t Ag.
Previous exploration also identified scattered surface outcrop uranium anomalies up to 0.075% U and a 10 x background gas-in-soil radon anomaly 1.5km north-northeast of Cockabidnie Corner with coincident uranium in borehole water and hematite alteration in both the Mesoproterozoic cover and underlying graphitic schist basement.
Lincoln Minerals' drilling results include zones of elevated uranium up to 81ppm U below calcrete soil uranium anomalies. The elevated uranium occurs in basement rocks that were originally not far below a Mesoproterozoic unconformity analogous to Alligator River style uranium mineralisation in the Northern Territory.
Surface geochemical calcrete gold anomalies (>10ppb Au and up to 272ppb Au) occur southwest of Sugarloaf Hill Mine and in the Campoona Syncline. There are >100ppm Cu, >100ppm Zn and >50ppm Ni anomalies coincident with the calcrete gold anomalies.
The proposed exploration program for the Cockabidnie area will focus on the Campoona nickel discovery along with ongoing exploration of potential unconformity uranium mineralisation, gold and base metals particularly in the Campoona Syncline and southwest of Sugarloaf Hill.
The Cockabidnie area has been the focus of both base metal and uranium exploration sporadically since the late 1960's. It has potential for unconformity uranium mineralisation associated with the base of the Blue Range Beds and also both base metal and iron ore mineralisation associated with the BIF-marble-calcsilicate sequence extending south and southwest from the Stanley Mine.
Previous exploration centred on the Campoona Syncline where there are high background base metal values (up to 0.9% Pb in outcrop samples) and Sirotem anomalies associated with BIFs. Calcrete assays up to 154ppb Au and 730ppm Pb+Zn were identified along the western limb of the Campoona Syncline and have extended the zone of interest. Previous drilling of this zone has comprised numerous shallow RAB holes down to ca. 10m combined with a few widely spaced deeper RC and diamond drillholes. The latter intersected intervals up to 6.1m @ 0.51% Pb and 18.3m @ 0.21% Zn (CRAE 77CW1) and 5m @ 1.14% Zn & 0.11% Pb (WMC SJPD44).
A 10 x background gas-in-soil radon anomaly was located by the Pancontinental Mining-PNC-Afmeco Joint Venture 1.5km north-northeast of Cockabidnie Corner with coincident uranium in borehole water and hematite alteration in both the Mesoproterozoic cover and underlying graphitic schist basement. Neither the source of the radon nor uranium anomalies up to 0.075% U in basement below the unconformity have been identified from RAB and core drilling but the anomalies highlight the potential in this region for unconformity-related uranium mineralisation.
Southwest of the Sugarloaf Hill Mine and Darke Peak Prospect calcrete assays up to 272ppb Au define a 600m long calcrete gold anomaly (>10ppb Au) open to the southwest.
The proposed exploration program for the Cockabidnie area will focus on potential unconformity uranium mineralisation associated with or immediately below the base of the Blue Range Beds combined with ongoing exploration for gold and base metals particularly in the Campoona Syncline and southwest of Sugarloaf Hill.