Archarv's repost...

Archarv's repost (https://hotcopper.com.au/posts/60764095/single) of an August 21 post by Dr Jonathan West,

and Sunguy's post (https://hotcopper.com.au/posts/60757890/single) of JW's recent LinkedIn message,

drew my attention to the Urquhart Shale at Mt Isa and I wonder whether JW is onto something.

JW wrote last year

"Whilst I am seeing hematitic alteration and prospective basement rocks (granite, gneiss at depth) that show some IOCG type characteristics, I am also possibly seeing graphitic shales/schists - which may or may not be metamorphosed black shales and those you invariably find with big SEDEX type deposits. By way of example, Mt Isa - and its associated Hilton and George Fisher SEDEX Tier 1 deposits all sit (all within a 20 km distance) in the Urquhart Shale which is a black shale."

and more recently

"Very encouraging and more so because what we are seeing here is not only similar to the NDI hole 4 but given that it is essentially 3 km to the east of hole 4 it suggests that we are looking at a large mineralised system. the occurrence of the graphitic schist, which for me is suggestive of a metamorphosed black shale still has me think of the major black shale unit (Urquhart Shale) that hosts some 4 Tier 1 SEDEX deposits at Mt Isa. One dreams!!!Early days but it could be that the whole of the Mt Lamb geophysical feature is a major altered black shale unit. If it is, its size is even slightly larger than the Urquhart shale unit, and with the multiple strong geophysical (gravity-magnetic) targets already identified within the Mt lamb 'structure, the potential for something seriously good has to be pretty high, in my opinion."

Here's some data, from a 2020 paper by Philip Rieger et al, showing the Urquhart Shale unit at Mt Isa alongside the Mt Lamb gravity ridge at the same scale. George Fisher, Hilton and Mt Isa mines are shown.



The mind boggles at the potential and blue sky if this correlation eventuates.