JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed iron-ore developer WPG Resources has started exploration on its tenements in the Northern Gawler Craton region, near Coober Pedy, in South Australia.

The Gawler Craton hosts several large producing mines and emerging mineral deposits, including Olympic Dam, Prominent Hill, Challenger, Carapateena and Hillside.

WPG indicated that it had completed a detailed review of past exploration on the five exploration licences it held.

The tenements cover a combined area of 2 629 km2 and were considered to have significant potential for gold, sulphide copper, gold, nickel, direct-shipping ore (DSO) hematite, banded iron formation (BIF) and gneiss-hosted magnetite iron-ore deposits.

The review defined a total of 14 targets for follow-up exploration within the Muckanippie, Robins Rise and Lake Woorong tenements located on the southern side of the geological terrain known as the Coober Pedy ridge.

Significant iron intersections were also recorded from previous rotary air-blast drilling at Nardoo South, including 15 m at 44.8% iron. Previous drilling at the Queenie prospect intersected BIF with assays of up to 45.4% iron.

“WPG considers the Coober Pedy ridge highly prospective for the discovery of DSO hematite deposits and exploration on four of the targets will focus on this style of mineralisation,” the company said in a statement.

The miner had also set the Lady Isabella prospect as a high priority target where broad intervals of magnetite-bearing gneiss with grades up to 39.5% iron had previously been discovered.

A heritage survey was completed last week and exploration would start this week.

WPG executive chairperson Bob Duffin said the company’s activities over the last six years had been focused on other deposits and prospects in the Coober Pedy area.

“These new prospects that we have identified have genuine exploration appeal. It is now time to allocate some of our resources to testing their potential,” he noted.