Kimberley Metals has started exploration at the historic Iron Duke Mine, 50km by road from the company's Mineral Hill Mine in central New South Wales. Previous exploration at this site by Triako Resources in 2005/2006 intersected copper-gold mineralization in shallow drilling over a strike length of 300 metres.
Mineralization was intersected in all 15 holes drilled by Triako that reached the target. Significant intersections include 4 metres @ 3.4 grams/tonne gold and 3.5% copper from 40 metres, 12 metres @ 3.4 grams/tonne gold and 2.2% copper from 80 metres, 20 metres @ 1.6 grams/tonne gold and 0.5% copper from 68 metres, and 6 metres @ 3.4 grams/tonne gold and 2.7% copper from 52 metres.
The mineralization at Iron Duke has the potential to provide high grade copper/gold feed for the Mineral Hill processing plant, which is on schedule for startup mid-year.
Kimberley has recently completed a soil geochemical sampling program over an area of about 14sqkm that has defined copper and arsenic anomalous zones to the southwest of the Iron Duke deposit.
It plans to begin drilling at Iron Duke with the aim of assessing the open cut potential for ore feed for the Mineral Hill plant and to explore the extent of the mineralization open down dip and along strike.
The Iron Duke copper-gold mineralized zone, as known from past activity, is up to 50 metres wide and extends for a strike length of 550 metres. It is in the Girilambone Group meta-sedimentary rocks of the Lachlan Fold belt that also host the Tottenham, Tritton, Budgery and Girilambone copper/gold deposits to the north.
Kimberley is progressing refurbishment of the Mineral Hill mine. The company has been engaged in this work since August 2010 in preparation for a recommencement of production from the mine with first production targeted for mid-2011.
The development plan for Mineral Hill contemplates development of both the Parkers Hill underground copper-lead-zinc mine and the Pearse open-cut gold-silver mine. The Mineral Hill plant has two process trains, allowing the treatment of gold-dominant ores through a carbon-in-leach circuit and base metal ores through a flotation circuit.