The Koojan Project (LSA 75%, Minerals 260 (ASX:MI6) earning up to 51%) is located in the New Norcia region of Western Australia.  The Project is owned by Coobaloo Minerals Pty Ltd and covers a contiguous area of 600km2.  Koojan is located 80km north of the recent Julimar Ni-PGE-Cu discovery by Chalice Gold Mines Ltd, and is located in a similar geological setting.  The Project is located within the Western Gneiss Terrain of the Archaean Yilgarn Craton of south-west Western Australia.

Regional Geological Setting

The prospective mafic/ultramafic bodies are hosted within the Jimperding Metamorphic belt – a belt up to 70km wide and bounded to the west by the Darling Fault, and to the east by Yilgarn craton units.  The geology in the project area consists of laterite duricrust overlying weathered bedrock, with localised areas of outcropping dolerite units and granitic/gneissic units observed. The Project is located within a farming district with extensive seasonal cropping (wheat, barley, canola etc) and grazing that will impact on the geological exploration at times.

Lachlan Star has completed an initial site visit to the project to review the geological setting and zones of anomalous mineralisation.  The visit highlighted that areas of high-grade copper, nickel, cobalt and anomalous PGE mineralisation are associated with mafic intrusive rocks.  This will be an immediate focus of the exploration programme to continue to expand and define these areas for evaluation. The reconnaissance rock chip programme has consisted of samples dispatched to SGS and ALS for analysis or has consisted of analysis by handheld XRF in the field.  The sampling has returned anomalous results for Copper (up to 2.78% Cu), Nickel (up to 0.18% Ni), Cobalt (up to 1,740ppm Co), as well as anomalous values for zinc, lead and PGE elements.  The anomalous results require follow-up, and it is noted that in the reconnaissance stage a range of values from below detection to the upper limits were returned.

Geophysical Survey

A Heli-EM survey (Survey) was flown over a selected area of the Koojan Project with a total of approximately 450-line kilometres surveyed. The Survey was undertaken on a 200m line spacing with a planned terrain clearance of 30m. Results of the Survey has identified numerous conductive zones and field reconnaissance indicates that several of these are interpreted to be related to the bedrock geology. Lachlan Star’s geologists have spent time reviewing the Survey with its consultant geophysicists, and following the field reconnaissance, have prioritised key areas for initial geochemical sampling. This work will add to the definition of targets for maiden drilling.The field reconnaissance confirms the presence of intrusive mafic to ultramafic rocks. Examination of hand specimens of rock samples has identified sulphide mineralisation and gossanous textures near the EM anomalous areas, further strengthening the prospectivity of the area.

Next steps

Following completion of local grain harvesting, the Company plans to immediately undertake a soil-sampling program across the priority targets identified through the Heli-EM Survey and geological mapping. Results of this program will assist with defining maiden drill targets.

Fig: Koojan project location, Western Australia

Minerals 260 (ASX:MI6) Farm-in JV 

As announced 10 August 2021, Minerals 260 Limited (MI6) can acquire 51% equity in the Koojan Project by spending a total of $4 million on exploration within 5 years, with a minimum expenditure commitment of $500,000 before having the right to withdraw. Upon MI6 earning 51% in the Koojan JV Project, the parties respective interests will be MI6 (51%), Lachlan Star (24%), Wavetime Nominees (25%).