Geological Overview

Geological Overview

Regional Geology

The Hillside Mineral Resource was discovered in late 2008 by Rex.  It is an iron-oxide-copper-gold orebody (IOCG) and it occurs on the Yorke Peninsula, just south of the town of Ardrossan and close to the historic mines of Moonta and Wallaroo. The Hillside Mineral Resource is located within the Moonta Subdomain of the Olympic Cu-Au Province of the eastern Gawler Craton of South Australia, which is host to the Olympic Dam, Prominent Hill, Carrapateena, and Moonta-Wallaroo deposits.

Local Geology

Copper-gold mineralisation is hosted by a sequence of steeply west-dipping, intensely altered structures. Mineralisation which predominantly strikes north-south has so far been observed over the area of 2.3km north-south length and a 900m west-east width. At least four main structures with individual copper-mineralised strike lengths of +2.0km have been defined to date. Copper mineralisation within all structures remains open along strike and at depth, from as shallow as 5m below surface to 710m below surface with true widths estimated to be in the order of 1m to 130m. A zone of shallow mineralisation with an apparent east-west strike rather than north-south (corresponding with a magnetic response) was identified on the southeast extension of the orebody.

Mineralisation

Primary copper zones comprise parallel, steeply-dipping structures of massive sulphide dominated by chalcopyrite with subordinate bornite and chalcocite.

Gold tends to occur as inclusions within chalcopyrite. Uranium and magnetite are associated with sulphides. Uranium is present at low levels within the orebody, and recoveries to the concentrate are within saleable limits.

The latest Project Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve was announced in 2022.