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(Sharecast News) - Resource explorer and developer Empire Metals announced the identification of a "significant structure" after an airborne magnetic survey in June at the Pitfield Copper-Gold Project in Western Australia.
The AIM-traded firm said the close-spaced airborne magnetic and radiometric survey was completed over the previously-reported magnetic anomaly extending from near the western boundary and through much of the 615 square kilometre Pitfield licence area.
It said a "significant" structure was interpreted along the western boundary of the magnetic anomaly that closely aligns with a surface copper anomaly stretching over seven kilometres, previously identified by CRA - which became part of Rio Tinto - when conducting surface sampling in the early 1990s.
Pitfield is located immediately adjacent to the historic Baxters copper mine at Arrino, which produced 106 tonnes of copper at a grade between 20% and 30% copper which, along with numerous other prospects, demonstrated "high regional prospectivity" for copper.
The highly-magnetic anomaly seen from the airborne survey, which extended for over 20 kilometres north-south along the western margin of the licence, indicated potential for the presence of magnetite which could be associated with a regional-scale alteration event.
"Excellent" resolution of stratigraphy and structure was achieved with the new survey, which Empire said would greatly assist in understanding the geological location of known copper anomalism, and in targeting areas with the highest exploration potential during its field activities.
"This is a tremendous result for Empire, and clear evidence of the mineralised potential of this geologically significant asset," said managing director Shaun Bunn.
"Our early success from the airborne magnetic survey has confirmed that the historical geochemical sampling closely aligns with a significant magnetic anomaly."
Bunn said the company was "looking forward" to the detailed analysis of the airborne electro-magnetic survey in the coming weeks, which was designed to complement the magnetic and radiometric survey work programme.
"These surveys, combined with the historical geochemical mapping completed by CRA and others, will allow our technical team to develop a comprehensive geological map and database for the Pitfield project, with the expectation that over time we can define several highly prospective copper resource targets."
At 1127 BST, shares in Empire Metals were up 7.32% at 1.1p.
Reporting by Josh White at Sharecast.com.
