Stelar Metals Limited (ASX:SLB) ('Stelar Metals' or the 'Company') would like to provide an update to the Company's ASX Announcement dated 3 July 2024 titled 'Copper identified in soil samples along strike-extensive gossans at Baratta'.
In relation to pXRF results, the Company cautions that they should never be considered a proxy or substitute for laboratory analysis. Laboratory assay results are required to confirm the reliability of the pXRF results and to determine any potential estimation of widths and grades of any mineralised trend. The Company will update the market when laboratory analysis results become available.
Sediment-hosted Stratabound Copper (SSC) deposits are the world's second most important source of copper and account for 20% of the world's copper production. In 2024, the Central African Copper Belt (CACB), which spans the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia, is positioned to be the second-largest global copper producer behind Chile's large porphyry deposits. In Australia, only the Flinders Ranges and the Sturt Shelf are considered prospective for this highly prized style of copper mineralisation.
Surface Sampling
In June, 1,182 soil samples were collected over the central portion of the Baratta Copper Mine area. The company's Nition XL5-plus portable XRF consistently returned highly anomalous copper values along several gossanous horizons. A selection of soil sampling traverses will be sent for confirmatory laboratory analysis. During the geological mapping, 77 random grab rock chip samples were collected along a 3.4 kilometre strike length between the main historic workings and North Bore from outcrops of weathered gossan, historic mine spoil, and minor excavations. These samples have been submitted to Intertek (Adelaide) for multi-element assay. Additional sampling will be undertaken in July along the 7-kilometre strike of the prospective Baratta Copper Area
Geological Mapping Stelar's geologists have started detailed mapping at the historic Baratta Mine Area to understand better the structural framework and stratigraphic architecture of the northern flank of the Bibliando Dome, where gossanous horizons were historically mined for copper. Four distinct, stratigraphically controlled, continuous, mineralised gossans have been mapped to date along a central 3.4-kilometre strike length. The Gossans and sampling are open to both East and West. Throughout the area mapped, there are abundant shallow historical excavations beyond the mined area, where there are numerous shallow shafts. At the surface, the gossans, which comprise quartz, haematite, chalcocite, malachite, azurite, siderite, and ankerite, occur in reduced dark grey-green metasiltstones and dolomitic mudstones. Individual gossans have been mapped up to five metres thick. The Wilyerpa Formation at Baratta is a package of sedimentary rocks comprising cyclical beds of sandstones, siltstones, mudstones and shales./. Better gossan development occurs in the less permeable mudstones. Located on the northern flank of the Bibliando Dome, the stratigraphy dips moderately to the north. Numerous locally significant faults have been recognised, but their relationship to the main Bibliando Thrust and mineralisation requires further work, which is planned for July
Contact:
Colin Skidmore
Chief Executive Officer
Stelar Metals Limited
Tel: +61 467 608 539
Email: c.skidmore@stelarmetals.com.au
ABOUT STELAR METALS
Stelar Metals' experienced and successful exploration and development team is targeting the discovery and production of critical minerals, with increasing global demand to enable the world to achieve net zero emissions. Stelar's Trident Lithium Project is located near mining, industrial, transport and green power infrastructure at Broken Hill in NSW. The Trident Lithium Project extends over the 20km strike length of the Euriowie Tin Pegmatite Field and is highly prospective for hard rock lithium mineralisation. Mapped LCT-type pegmatites vary in size but can be up to 100 metres wide and extend in outcrop for over 1 kilometre in length. Trident was one of Australia's first lithium and tin mining provinces, highlighting both the fertility and large scale of Stelar's lithium-rich pegmatite system. Stelar's Baratta Copper Project, located in South Australia, is hosted within the Adelaidean rocks of the Flinders Ranges. The Project is considered highly prospective for sedimenthosted copper mineralisation, akin to the Central African Copper Belt. The historic Baratta Copper Mine produced copper ore between 1896 and 1904 from a 1.5 km-long zone of stratabound workings in a structure splaying off the Bibliando Thrust. Stelar is conducting exploration activities in a 7-kilometre corridor of copper mineralisation and geophysical targets that have been overlooked by previous explorers.
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