The Parys Mountain polymetallic project will undergo a proof-of-concept study on the use of muon tomography to identify new resource and delineate existing zones of mineralisation.
MUON TOMOGRAPHY
Mine owner Anglesey Mining plc, currently preparing for a drill programme, has engaged ground engineering technical services company Central Alliance to use the exploratory tool.
The technology measures naturally generated subatomic particles, called muons, to create an image of the subsurface through density differentials.
Anglesey said that the process, similar to medical x-ray imaging, had previously delivered “accurate spatial representation of metallic ore bodies” and generated “extensive drilling targets over large detection areas”.
Central Alliance will deploy muon sensors in stages down the 300m deep Morris shaft at Parys Mountain before analysing the data off site.
An orientation survey will also be conducted with the known White Rock and Engine Zone deposits and potentially identify new zones of interest and extensions to the zones.
The process is expected to enable much more focused drilling and potentially save costs and time.
DRILLING
If suitable, the data will be used in a diamond core drilling in the Northern copper zone (NCZ) to a target depth of 625m due to start in September and last six months.
The six-hole programme for 3,725m is designed to increase the resource confidence category for the upper levels of the NCZ, extend the Garth Daniel resource estimate and test the central zone, currently not included in the Parys Mountain resource estimate.
“With conventional geophysical methods being increasingly difficult to employ on the Isle of Anglesey due to impediments such as power cables, windfarms and roads, the need to develop new technology is becoming more important,” added chief executive officer Jo Battershill.
“We believe that the entire Parys Mountain stratigraphy remains highly prospective, and that existing mineralisation should extend both along strike and at depth, as seen at many other VMS deposits around the world.”