The Babinda project, comprising EL7973, is situated approximately 50 km southeast of Cobar in central-western New South Wales. 

 

The project was acquired in order to undertake base and precious metal exploration within the Cobar Cu-Zn-Au mining district, which lies within the western sector of the Lachlan Fold Belt.  The main exploration target styles included high grade lode type sulphide deposits, hosted in shear zones which traverse rocks of all ages from Ordovician to Devonian and are splays off a major shear-fault system and low grade disseminated, strata-bound gold targets situated in rhyolitic and andesitic intrusive and extrusive environments. 

EL7973is in close proximity to the Hera deposit owned by Aurelia Metals. The Company’s focus is the development and ongoing exploration of the Hera-Nymagee Project, which includes the high grade gold and base metal Hera deposit and the emerging high-grade copper discovery at the nearby Nymagee copper deposit.

 

The Hera-Nymagee Project is located about 100kms SE of Cobar in western NSW and the deposits represent typical “Cobar Style” ore systems, which have a strong historical precedent for large scale, high-grade, long life mining operations.

 

Babinda Project has returned promising base metal intercepts at shallow depths from Ark’s previous drill programs. The Babinda project is 20 kilometres from Nymagee and South of the Cobar Mining field. Babinda is markedly similar to the Hera and Nymagee Polymetallic Mines developed by YTC Resources.

In late 2011 a 600m RC program was undertaken at Babinda and was designed to test the gravity high that AHK surveyed in June 2011. The Gravity anomaly lies directly in the centre of a large oval-shaped magnetic anomaly. 

 

The shallow RC holes, which have shown “large surface mineralised halos” indicate that there is potential for higher grade results at depth, and importantly, additional targets near the Lord Dudley Mine. The drill results confirm that the gravity anomaly correlates with the drill results.

 

It is therefore important to understand the full extent of the Lord Dudley Gravity anomaly. A gravity ground crew will be required initially to close out the anomaly. Further to this 5, 120m RC drill holes are planned across the anomaly to determine the geochemical signature to the Elaine’s signature (refer to the gravity map). From these results Ark can then proceed to drill a deep diamond hole into the target at both Lord Dudley and Elaine. It is proposed to drill a 400m diamond hole in each target, as soon as funding becomes available.

GEOLOGICAL SETTING AND MINERALISATION

 

EL7973 covers the eastern contact of Babinda volcanics with the Ballast Beds. The principal geological features comprise north trending sediments and acid volcanics ranging from Ordovician AndaloonChert and Girilambone Group to Silurian Harts Tank Beds and Devonian Babinda Volcanics. The tenement is located between eruptive centres in felsic volcanics on the Kopyje Shelf, a setting within the Cobar Supergroup. The largest mineral deposits in the Cobar Supergroup shelf sequences are sub-volcanic silver-lead-zinc-gold-copper deposits.

 

BABINDA SIMPLIFIED GEOLOGY WITH PROSPECTS

 

Previous exploration has shown that two principal groupings of base metal and Au deposits are present. These are at Babinda and Harts Tank, which appear to be closely related to major north-trending structures related to the Gilmore Suture. These are easily identified on new airborne magnetic data provided by the government and are interpreted as shear zones that are prospective for high grade lode type sulphide deposits with varying contents of copper, zinc, lead, silver and gold. The existence of an epithermal system was postulated by Pan Australian Resources, based on the nature of the alteration in the Harts Tank area. Abundant quartz-sulphide-carbonate veinlets are present and carbonate is also common in the breccias. Anomalous gold and at times extensive elevated base metal values have been found.

 

Eleven old mines and prospects are known. These appear to be genetically related to a relatively shallow felsic intrusive centre. The Babinda area is associated with acid volcanics, while the Harts Tank area is hosted by an older sequence of sediments and acid to intermediate volcanics and Girilambone Group metasediments. While there has been some minor base metal production from both groups there has been no gold production, although anomalous gold values have been reported in many of the deposits. Anomalous geochemistry is mainly associated with ferruginous siliceous outcrops.