Canning Basin Project
Summary | Location and tenure | Geology | Geophysics
Summary
The Canning Basin Project lies in the Great Sandy Desert, to the east and south of the Fitzroy River in the Kimberly of W.A. (fig1).
The area was applied for on the basis of large gravity and magnetic anomalies underlying late sandy cover which in tern overly sandstones of cretaceous age. This unusual combination led Newera to believe the area worth investigating for several types of mineralisation, not least for Iron Oxide Copper-Gold (IOCG).
Location and Tenure
The Company holds some 1853 square kilometers of ground in the Great Sandy Desert of W.A., in four tenements all of which are Exploration Licenses still in application. Two of the tenements are contiguous (Figures 1 & 2) due to the size of the prospect and the regulatory limits on leases.
Fig 1: Location of the Kimberly tenements with respect to the infrastructure and coastline of the region.
The main project area is located approximately 135km south and east of Fitzroy Crossing in the Kimberly, 60km southeast of the Nookanbah Community. Another lease lies slightly northwest some 100km east of Nookanbah.
Fig 2: Location of the Kimberly tenements on 1:1M topography
Licences E04/1724, E04/1725, E04/1726 and E04/1734 are all applications in Newera’s own name.
Geology
The project area lies within the Canning Basin, to the south and east of the granites of the Hooper Complex, which strikes northwest-southeast some distance from the project to the northeast of Fitzroy Crossing. The rock that underlies the sands of the Great Sandy desert in the area is dominated by sandstones. Significant petroleum exploration has been undertaken further to the south and west of the project area in these same sandstones.
A major gravity high exists in the area and is highlighted in the geology mapping. This is highly unusual in sandstones and was the catalyst for Newera’s interest.
The Fenton Fault System, a major regional structural boundary which separates the Permian siltstones and mudstones from the Jurassic and Cretaceous sandstones, lies 15km to the northeast of the main gravity anomaly. E04/1726 straddles this fault system, which is a possible fluid path for mineralisation, and it passes through a portion of E04/1734. The Dummer Range Fault System is a splay off the Fenton fault and runs along the boundary of E04/1724 between it and E04/1726 (fig. 3).
Fig 3: GSWA geology mapping of Newera’s Canning Basin Project.
Geophysics
The project was picked up on the basis of geophysical data. The large gravity high has been recognised in the area for some time but has not been investigated. The magnetic spot highs are also of interest.
Considering the fact that the lithology under the sands of the project area is sandstones and siltstones, the presence of a large magnetic and gravity high is very unusual. To have them co-incident as in the main portion of the project makes them even more remarkable. As this co-incidence is the first of many steps in the exploration for IOCG mineralisation, Newera decided the area was worth investigating.
To date the company has been working from rudimentary, non-specific image data. This is being rectified and new, updated imaging of the various available surveys in the area is in process.
Fig 4: Gravity data over the project area.
Fig 5: Imaged aeromagnetic data for the same areas as in Fig. 4. Note co-incidence of anomalies.
Newera intends to conduct a small program of targeted deep drilling to investigate the nature of the rocks causing the anomalies, before determining the most effective exploration strategy for the project.