Empire Resources has identified four magnetic anomalies and prioritised two for drilling at its renamed Bradley Well project in Western Australia. Historical copper intercepts provide geological clues, but the targets remain untested and drilling timing depends on rig availability.
- Four low-amplitude magnetic anomalies identified
- Two areas prioritised for drilling
- Historical intercepts of 4m at 175ppm copper and 16m at 277ppm copper
- Programme of work approved for drilling
- No new drilling results or resource disclosed
Four anomalies emerge at Bradley Well
Empire Resources Limited (ASX:ERL) has given its renamed Bradley Well Project a sharper exploration focus, identifying four low-amplitude magnetic anomalies on tenement E51/1938 and selecting two for initial drilling. The ground sits about 2km north of Solstice Minerals’ (ASX:SLS) Nanadie copper-gold project, whose nearby exploration results prompted Empire to revisit a tenement that had previously produced little encouragement.
The project was formerly called Nanadie, a name Empire says will now be reserved for Solstice’s nearby project to avoid confusion. Empire’s review comes against a sparse exploration record on E51/1938: Newcrest Mining’s wide-spaced 1995 RAB drilling had limited success, Mithril Resources failed to locate conductors in a 2015 MLEM survey, and Empire’s 2021 soil sampling found no copper or gold anomalies across the tenement. Transported clays and sands to the north also obscure the surface geology.
Area 1 targets a granite-amphibolite contact
Area 1 lies along strike from Solstice’s Nanadie tenure and centres on historic hole ER342-8, which returned 4 metres at 175 parts per million copper from 36 metres. Sheared amphibolite was encountered at 44 metres, while granite was identified in a drillhole about 300 metres to the west.
Empire plans to test the previously untested contact between the granite and amphibolite. The geological targets are either a concealed mineralised mafic intrusive, such as gabbro, or a mineralised shear zone. The historical copper result is an exploration clue rather than evidence of a defined deposit, and the announcement does not report any new assays.
Area 2 follows a Barrambie magnetic high
Area 2, roughly 1.6km east of Area 1, targets the Barrambie Igneous Complex, a ridge-like magnetic high extending for more than 60km and consisting mainly of gabbro and pyroxenite. Newcrest hole ER332-2, drilled just 55 metres south of E51/1938, recorded 16 metres at 277 parts per million copper from 28 metres.
Empire intends to drill across the ER332-2 position, where the host rock was logged as sericitic schist with subordinate quartz veins. Nearby holes encountered dolerites and granites, leaving the relationship between the copper anomaly and the surrounding geology unresolved.
Drilling cleared but rig timing remains open
A programme of work has been granted, removing the stated permitting hurdle to the proposed campaign. The next step is field validation of the four magnetic anomalies, followed by drilling of Areas 1 and 2 when a suitable rig becomes available.
That wording leaves the immediate catalyst clear but the timetable uncertain. Results from the first holes will need to establish whether the historical copper intercepts point to broader mineralisation, a prospective intrusive body or a shear zone. Until then, Bradley Well is a target-generation story built on old drilling, geophysical interpretation and geological proximity rather than a resource or a new discovery.
Bottom Line?
The programme now has permission to proceed, but Bradley Well’s investment case still depends on securing a rig and converting low-grade historical anomalies into fresh, reproducible drill results.
Questions in the middle?
- How soon can Empire secure a rig and begin drilling the two priority areas?
- Will field validation confirm that the magnetic anomalies reflect prospective bedrock targets?
- Can new drilling establish mineralisation materially stronger or broader than the historical copper intercepts?