Burley finds more shallow iron at Cane Bore as mineralised ridge extends

Cane Bore assays confirm continuous shallow mineralisation

Burley Minerals Ltd (ASX:BUR) has produced the first substantial assay readout from its latest Cane Bore drilling campaign, confirming shallow Channel Iron Deposit mineralisation across the North and Step-Out Targets in Western Australia’s Pilbara. The 59-hole reverse circulation programme covered 1,009 metres, with reported results showing an average grade of 50.6% Fe using a 47% Fe cut-off.

The strongest headline intercept was 7 metres at 52.7% Fe from 8 metres in hole CBRC064, with a calculated calcined grade of 59.4% Fe. Other notable results included 6 metres at 51.2% Fe from 2 metres in CBRC082, 5 metres at 52.0% Fe from 2 metres in CBRC059 and 8 metres at 50.0% Fe from 3 metres in CBRC053. The table’s maximum reported iron grade was 55.9% Fe, equivalent to 61.8% calcined Fe.

Five-kilometre ridge remains open for extensions

The drilling tested a contiguous mesa-form ridge covering more than 290 hectares and extending over 5 kilometres of strike. Burley said the assays indicate mineralisation through much of the North and Step-Out areas, with intercalated horizontal clay layers described as typical of CID systems. The mineralised ridge remains open beyond the drilled area to both the northeast and southwest.

The results are the next stage of a programme launched after the Cane Bore drilling clearance, which enabled RC drilling over the North and Step-Out Targets. The project’s location less than 30 kilometres from the sealed Onslow Road and roughly 90 kilometres from the Port of Ashburton is presented by Burley as a potential infrastructure advantage, although the announcement does not quantify any capital or operating-cost benefit.

Resource confidence and metallurgy remain outstanding

The positive assays are still exploration results, not a mineral resource or ore reserve. Burley states that the current drill spacing is insufficient to establish the geological and grade continuity needed for resource estimation. The company plans infill RC drilling to improve resource confidence, alongside nine approved diamond holes intended to provide metallurgical samples and support geotechnical assessment.

Those next steps depend on regulatory and heritage processes. Burley has submitted a Reserve Activity Management Plan to the Department of Biodiversity Conservation and Attractions and must obtain a further Programme of Works approval from the Department of Mines, Petroleum and Exploration. Additional heritage surveys are also being arranged, while the company considers using some of the remaining approved RC drilling in areas already cleared for exploration.

That leaves Cane Bore with a stronger geological signal but several important technical gates ahead. The next meaningful inflection point will be whether approvals and heritage clearance allow the proposed infill and diamond programmes to convert shallow, widely distributed assays into a resource supported by metallurgy and tighter drilling.