Balladonia, Western Australia.

The Balladonia Project is located ~60km south of the Nova–Bollinger nickel-copper deposit and consists of seven Exploration Licences covering an area of ~840 km².

The project occurs within a structurally complex region of the Fraser Range Terrane and is centred above a deep regional gravity anomaly (~30 milligals) thought to reflect buried mafic-ultramafic rocks similar to those that host the Nova-Bollinger deposit.

Recent work has identified similarities between Balladonia and the Eastern Succession of north-west Queensland, where iron-oxide copper-gold (IOCG) and Broken Hill Type (BHT) deposits are known to occur. Interpretation of magnetic data has identified many discrete magnetic targets that had not been previously explored.

Drilling during 2022 significantly upgraded the base metal potential of the Balladonia region. Results from 4 drill-holes at the Tea Tree prospect confirmed the presence of potassic, iron and manganese alteration within a sequence containing garnetiferous quartzites, similar to those recognised within so-called ‘lode packages’ found in the world-class Cloncurry Belt in NW Queensland and at Broken Hill.

The presence of substantial thicknesses (~30-50m) of highly anomalous lead (up to 420ppm Pb), zinc (up to 3,170ppm Zn) and cadmium (up to 20ppm Cd) within the interpreted ‘lode package’, suggests potential for base metals nearby. Recognition of BHT potential has provided a new lease of life for this project which continues to deliver interesting and tantalising results like the carbonatite intersected at the Telegraph prospect.

Detailed gravity surveys completed in late 2022 produced distinct anomalies associated with the magnetic (BIF) targets defining additional targets for drilling.  A major diamond drilling program (~4,800 m) commenced in April 2023 to test eight targets defined by this survey.

Exploration work at Balladonia is funded under the SAA with a subsidiary of South32 Limited.

Revised 05/05/2023.