Empire Metals Limited has announced the JORC Exploration Target for the Pitfield Titanium Project in Western Australia. The Exploration Target covers the Cosgrove and Thomas mineral prospects and is estimated to contain between 26.4 to 32.2 billion tonnes with a grade range of 4.5 to 5.5% TiO2. The target has been developed by Snowden Optiro and covers a combined area of approximately 59km2, extending down to 150m vertical depth only, and has been constrained at a 2% TiO2 cut-off grade. The company plans additional drilling to advance the Exploration Target to a Mineral Resource Estimate.
Shaun Bunn, Managing Director, expressed delight at the impressive Exploration Target result, emphasizing its significance as a first step towards the development of a Mineral Resource Estimate. The Exploration Target does not include all the zones of high-grade titanium mineralization currently identified by the company outside of the two key prospects, indicating the potential for significant increases in the overall titanium endowment of the Project.
The Exploration Target incorporates titanium mineralization hosted within the interbedded succession of sandstones, siltstones, and conglomerates as defined by existing wide-spaced diamond core and Reverse Circulation drilling, backed up by geophysical surveys, surface mapping, and soil and rock chip sampling. It consists of two distinct high-grade, near-surface bedded sandstone zones, the Cosgrove and Thomas mineral prospects, which extend over 39km2 and 20km2 respectively. The estimated range of potential titanium mineralization forming the combined Exploration Target is 26.4 to 32.2 billion tonnes grading at 4.5 to 5.5% TiO2.
The Exploration Target has been subdivided to show the potential mineralization and each mineral prospect separately. It has been further subdivided to show the range of potential mineralization within the weathered sandstone zone separately, which is enriched in titanium dioxide minerals (rutile and anatase) and extends from surface to an average depth of approximately 30m to 40m. The Exploration Target is based on the interpretation of geology and mineralization data, including previously reported Exploration Results.