The discovery of the Artemis polymetallic deposit

Abstract

The Artemis Cu-Au-Zn-Ag deposit is located approximately 43 km southeast of Cloncurry and 19 km west of Eloise in northwest Queensland. The deposit, hosted within the Paleoproterozoic Mount Norna Quartzite unit which is part of the Lower Soldiers Cap Group, is a steeply-dipping massive sulphide body. The Artemis deposit was discovered by Minotaur in July 2014, only 9 months after taking possession of the project. The deposit is a new type of mineralisation that has previously not been identified in the Cloncurry district. The discovery was made by meticulously piecing together the historical geophysical and geological data, complimented by new geophysical data sets including airborne EM and ground EM to improve the understanding of prospective targets throughout the area. The dominant sulphide within the deposit is pyrrhotite, hence the deposit is highly conductive. Airborne and ground EM techniques were therefore the main tools in resolving the mineralisation. The pyrrhotite is non-magnetic and therefore the deposit has no discernible magnetic signature and magnetics played no part in the discovery process. The deposit had no associated surface geochemical anomalism and very little alteration, making this deposit geologically difficult to find and essentially reliant on EM techniques in making the discovery.