Minotaur Exploration announced the revamping and extension of the Eloise joint venture upon OZ Minerals attaining 70 per cent interest and contributing an additional AU$3million over the next two years – having already invested AU$4 million into the JV tenements.

Minotaur-OZ Minerals Eloise drilling

A new tenement, named Matilda, has just been granted to Minotaur and integrated to the JV. Matilda provides high value EM targets very close to the Eloise copper mine.

According to a company statement, these will be refined for drill design by on-ground EM after the wet season ends in March 2020. A Jericho-style EM target, ‘Seer’, will also be drill investigated in the new field season.

“We agreed with OZ Minerals to partition the Jericho copper deposit from the Eloise JV into a new joint venture owned 80 per cent by OZ Minerals and 20 per cent by Minotaur,” explained Chairman, Minotaur, Roger Higgins.

“The Jericho system, discovered by Minotaur for the JV and known to extend for 3.7 kilometres, has been tested by 30 kilometres of drilling in the past two years. That effort has seen OZ Minerals invest AU$10.6million at Jericho where its two parallel lodes have been intersected by 98 holes in total, assays from which show the presence of several high-grade shoots between 50metres and 350metres below surface,” added Mr Higgins.

Company reports show that these shoots remain open at depth and down plunge but require further drilling to 650metres below surface to optimally quantify. Minotaur is advocating for OZ Minerals to continue drilling to establish resource potential and accumulate sufficient data to enable estimation of a sizeable JORC resource.

“That is Minotaur’s objective for the first half of 2020, and we look to OZ Minerals for approval,” said Mr Higgins.

“Presently, OZ Minerals is considering underground mining options for Jericho and those scenarios will inform their position on further drilling.”

“In parallel to those joint venture initiatives Minotaur and OZ Minerals agreed to work exclusively with each other across the broad Cloncurry region, to identify and secure opportunities that could form the basis of a ‘copper hub’, be they tenement acquisitions, infrastructure assets or mineral assets,” added Mr Higgins.