Trek Metals eyes bigger manganese prize as walk-up drill targets emerge at Christmas Creek

While exploring for gold at the project, the company identified exciting outcrops of very high-grade manganese mineralisation, with mineral textures and an association with carbonate host rocks of the Elliot Range Dolomite formation indicating a hydrothermal origin with a possible supergene upgrade. 

This geological setting is similar to the style of manganese mineralisation that occurs at the Woodie Woodie and Bootu Creek manganese districts, where drilling on geophysical gravity, electromagnetic and induced polarisation anomalies has proven to be successful at defining manganese deposits sitting below unmineralised cover deposits.

Recent surface rock chip sampling by Trek returned very high grades of up to 58.4% manganese (equivalent to 92.4% MnO2) and now the ground gravity survey results have defined multiple strong and coherent positive anomalies coincident with mapped high-grade manganese mineralised outcrops.

The company says these could extend under thin sediment cover well beyond the current 750m strike length of the gravity anomaly trends, suggesting the presence of a much larger concealed manganese mineralised system.

The results provide further strong evidence that Trek Metals (ASX:TKM) has potentially discovered a significant hydrothermal manganese system, which could represent a new Australian manganese district, with drill planning currently underway.

Trek CEO Derek Marshall said the results represent a major step forward for the company at Christmas Creek, because not only do they confirm that the exceptionally high-grade manganese mineralisation discovered recently at surface likely continues at depth, they also highlight the potential for a much larger mineralised system concealed beneath shallow sand cover.

“We now have strong geophysical evidence supporting our interpretation of a hydrothermal manganese system of the same style associated with major Australian deposits, such as Woodie Woodie in WA and Bootu Creek in the Northern Territory,” he said. 

“The scale of the gravity anomalies, their structural context in the underexplored Wolfe Basin, and their alignment with the high-grade manganese outcrops, all point towards a significant new manganese discovery in the Kimberley. 

“The combination of very high-grade manganese in surface rock assays, geological mapping, and now coincident gravity anomalies, provides Trek with compelling walk-up drill targets. 

“This new discovery has district-scale implications, and we look forward to advancing permitting and finalising drill planning while we await recent airborne electromagnetic and magnetic survey results, and geochemical analyses of additional rock chip samples. 

“The company is advancing towards drill testing this exciting high-grade manganese discovery as soon as practicable.”

Once final geophysical survey data is received, the company will refine drill targeting, with drill permitting already underway and heritage requests to be submitted for consideration with the YMN Traditional Owners.