OZ Minerals has extensive experience in global greenfields exploration and is currently exploring in Australia and Cambodia.
Australia
In Australia OZ Minerals is exploring for copper gold deposits in the Gawler Craton in South Australia.
Prominent Hill
The Prominent Hill deposit is located within a large (approx 4,000 square kilometres) tenement holding, this is OZ Minerals’ highest exploration priority. In 2010 OZ Minerals Limited and IMX Resources Limited formed a joint venture to explore for, and facilitate the development of, copper-gold projects on IMX’s Mt Woods tenements in South Australia. The joint venture along with its own ground gives OZ Minerals access to more than 7,000 square kilometres of highly prospective exploration acreage. Geophysical techniques are being employed to identify targets beneath ‘cover’ sediments and drilling of potential Prominent Hill-style targets is now underway.
OZ Minerals has committed $70 million to exploration at Prominent Hill in 2012 with $41 million on near mine exploration and $28 million on regional exploration including the IMX joint venture.
Cobar
OZ Minerals has exploration licences covering 3,435 square kilometres of prospective geology in the Cobar region of New South Wales. Exploration is targeting Cobar-style copper and polymetallic mineralisation. In 2010 surface and airborne geophysics was completed defining a number of targets. Drilling commenced late in 2010 and is continuing throughout 2011 to test these defined areas.
Cambodia
OZ Minerals commenced exploration in 2006 and has an exploration office in Phnom Penh. OZ Minerals currently has four exploration projects in the province of Mondulkiri, the most advanced of these is the Okvau project. Following receipt of the final results of an infill drilling program at Okvau, the review of the Cambodian assets will be concluded.
USA
Providencia, Arizona (Option to purchase 100%)
Following receipt of final permitting, OZ Minerals will commence exploration drilling on the Providencia project in Santa Cruz County, Arizona. The project is strategically located in the Laramide Metallogenic District which hosts numerous world class porphyry deposits including Buenavista (Cananea) (30Mt contained Cu) and Resolution (22Mt contained Cu). The Providencia project lies 70 kilometres directly along strike from Buenavista.
A major porphyry target has been defined, based on geological and alteration mapping, outcropping breccia pipe mineralisation and IP and magnetic data. Previous drilling was restricted to the western margin of this target and comprised two holes returning significant intervals of copper mineralisation. Permitting for the proposed drilling program is well advanced.