Tri Origin tests potential of its Australian property

With the application of “Canadian-style” exploration techniques, Tri Origin Exploration (TSE) figures it has a good chance of finding a polymetallic massive sulphide deposit on its Lewis Ponds property, 250 km west of Sydney, Australia.

Recently, the company commenced a widely spaced 6-hole (1,500-metre) program to test known mineralization and explore for new occurrences. Encouraged by a combination of old drill core and more recent geological and geophysical data, the company has also acquired a 150-km exploration licence surrounding Lewis Ponds. The “Orange” licence covers 25 km of Silurian-age felsic volcanic and sedimentary rocks containing several small, turn-of-the-century copper producers.

“It’s a lot like the Abitibi belt,” said President Dennis Sheehan, referring to the greenstone belt that runs through northeastern Ontario and northwestern Quebec.

Previous exploration on the Orange property includes drilling by Cominco, Amax, Shell and Homestake. At the Williams occurrence, two lenses are estimated to contain about 485,000 tonnes grading 3.35% copper. Zinc, lead, silver and gold-bearing mineralization is also evident throughout the property.

“People have poked a few holes, but they haven’t really done any Canadian-style exploration,” said Sheehan.

Australian explorers, he explained, tend toward geochemical techniques and shallow drilling, while Canadians — often faced with a thick layer of glacial overburden — are more likely to use geophysics and deeper drilling.