Exploration company Pegmont have begun drilling west of Mount Isa as they try to prove what they hope is a "world class" discovery.
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Pegmont said they were the first company to undertake deep RC drilling of the Templeton tenement, a 248 sq km block 60km west of Mount Isa.
Last year Pegmont signed a native title agreement for Templeton with the Indjalandi-Dhidhanu Aboriginal Corporation on April 5 and the Mines Department has granted Pegmont an exploration permit for five years
Pegmont managing director Malcolm Mayger said they have now started a drilling program of 1200 to 1500 metres to test three magnetic targets with holes planned to a depth of 400 to 500 metres.
"The targets selected by our geologists and geophysicists under the direction of renowned geologist Jacob Rebek, are believed to have potential for world-class discoveries being in that province, of North West Queensland, which remains under explored," Mr Mayger said.
"In the happy case of encouraging results we will evaluate our strategy to continue drilling further holes in a follow up program."
Mr Mayger said world class copper and copper-gold deposits were related to magmatic intrusive bodies, which are magnetic so that there is a bullseye type magnetic anomaly.
"Mount Isa is the largest high-grade copper deposit in the World and is the main copper producer in Australia," he said.
"We continue to apply for areas of free ground with bullseye type magnetic anomalies to the north west of Mount Isa, which resulted in Templeton and Mingera which were granted in 2018 and 2019 respectively."
Mr Mayger said that with the exception of Canada, in no other country is there such wealth of detailed high quality geophysical data and geological information, which can be obtained from government at no cost.
"This means that in Australia, a small exploration company can compete with the majors in area and target selection," he said.
"But more than that with 28 years of exploration in the Mount Isa area we bring a great deal of company knowledge and geological experience."
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