- 01LMS secures Topdrill rig for Oonagalabi
- 0211 holes, 1,820m, depths to 200m.
- 03Target Cu-Zn ext, geometry, Main Zone.
- 04Phase 3 results guide next drilling and model
Litchfield Minerals (ASX: LMS) has secured a drilling rig through specialist contractor Topdrill in preparation for an exploration campaign at the Oonagalabi polymetallic project in the Northern Territory next month.
Eleven candidate holes for a total 1,820 metres (with depths ranging up to 200m) have been overlaid on mapped outcrops of the Oonagalabi Formation to target extensions to known copper-zinc mineralisation, better define mineralised geometry and structural controls, and investigate new areas of the Main Zone.
The company’s recent Phase 3 campaign returned broad copper-zinc intercepts such as 68.26m at 0.62% copper, 1.44% zinc, and 4.3 grams per tonne silver from 10m, as well as 120m at 0.35% copper, 0.92% zinc and 4.1g/t silver from 52m.
Litchfield has confirmed that eight to 10 holes will be completed within Topdrill’s limited drilling window, with final hole selection and sequencing of drill collars based on geological priority, pad readiness, rig availability, and ground conditions.
Follow-Up Campaign
Managing director Matthew Pustahya said the Oonagalabi campaign would aim to follow up the earlier results.
“Previous drilling at Oonagalabi confirmed broad copper-zinc mineralisation at the Main Zone and provided us with a much better understanding of the geometry and structural controls we need to test,” he said.
“This new program is designed to build on that work by testing extensions to the known mineralisation, sharpening our understanding of the structural controls, and stepping into new areas southwest within the Main Zone.
“What we learn will feed directly into the Main Zone geological model and inform the next phase of drilling.”
Harts Range Surveys
Litchfield recently completed a combined magnetotelluric and gravity survey to test the western group of tenements near Oonagalabi, which sits in the prolific Harts Range corridor, with a view to better defining the geometry beneath shallow cover and refining priority exploration targets.
That work, together with an induced polarisation survey at Silver Valley in the southern Davenport Province to the north of Oonagalabi, represented the first field-based tests of a belt-scale mineral systems framework developed through Litchfield’s participation in the BHP Xplor program.
The framework considered the broader Aileron-Irindina corridor at Harts Range—which spans extensive regions rich in copper, zinc, nickel, and gold—as an integrated mineral system rather than evaluating individual prospects in isolation.
The surveys sought to build on the proven deep-imaging approach previously used by Litchfield to extend comparable subsurface coverage across its tenure.
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