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Steinhausen
Steinhausen Project
Exploration Tenements
The Steinhausen Project consists of consists of four licences and two applications surrounding the Omitiomire Project. The Project area currently:
• EPL3590: The second renewal application was submitted during January;
• EPL4054: The first three-year licence period is valid until April 2013;
• EPL3587 and 3588: Final reports for relinquishment will be submitted during April;
• EPLA4150 and 4151: Awaiting grant.
Steinhausen tenements. EPL 3589 constitutes the Omitiomire project area.
Geological Setting
The granted tenements cover a complex geological situation between two major northeast-trending crustal lineaments, the Okahandja Lineament in the west and the Kudu Lineament in the east. The rock units between these two lineaments include:
• The Ekuja-Otjihangwe Dome Complex: Mesoproterozoic basement inliers which, in
EPL3589, host the Omitiomire copper deposit.
• The Onjona-Vrolikheid Fold Complex: Mesoproterozoic (and perhaps also Paleoproterozoic)
metamorphic rocks, consisting of pelitic schist, calc-silicate schist, marble, amphibolite and quartzite.
• Mafic-Ultramafic Complexes: Field exposures include anorthosite, olivine gabbro, amphibolite and
ultramafic rocks with associated meta-sedimentary rocks.
• The Kuiseb Formation: These pelitic schists are part of the uppermost stratigraphic unit within the
Neoproterozoic Damara Sequence.
Simplified geological map showing known copper occurrences
The two EPL application areas cover a number of basement inliers flanked by strata of the Damara Sequence.
Discovery Potential
The Steinhausen project covers several thousand square kilometres of complex geology with a number of known metal concentrations and potential for other deposit styles. Within the area, rock outcrops are generally very poor. Consequently, there has been little previous detailed mineral exploration, and almost none since the 1970s.
Metals in layered complexes: The two mafic-ultramafic complexes have potential for deposits of nickel-copper. Nickel-in-soil geochemical anomalies are now being followed up with a series of shallow pits to expose and sample bedrock. The presence of bodies (layers?) of anorthosite within the two mafic-ultramafic complexes suggests that they may also have potential for deposits of titanium-vanadium.
Stratabound copper in pre-Damara strata: Several known occurrences of stratabound copper and extensive copper geochemical anomalies identified by Craton’s exploration program indicate that the Steinhausen tenements are located in an under-explored and poorly-understood copper district. Previous drilling has intersected pyrite-pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite in several target zones and Craton’s exploration has identified further distinct and high order copper-in-soil anomalies.
Stratabound copper in Damara strata: EPLA 4150 contains several copper occurrences clustered around a basement high and hosted by clastic and carbonate beds. These occurrences represent priority targets for testing.
Besshi-type massive sulphide copper: The Matchless Amphibolite Member extends over 400 km through central Namibia and hosts several clusters of massive sulphide copper deposits. EPLA 4151 contains 60 km strike of the unit, with several known copper prospects. Some of these were subjected to preliminary drilling during the 1970s but not subsequently followed up.
Exploration Program
Because of the poor outcrop in the area, the Company’s exploration approach has been to blanket the project area with soil geochemical surveys. Most of the granted tenement area has been sampled on a 400m x 400m grid. Areas of geochemically-anomalous soil are being progressively followed up with infill soil geochemistry on a 100m x 100m grid, supported by detailed geological mapping and, in some cases, ground magnetic surveys and the digging of pits to expose bedrock. By the end of 2011, over 20,000 samples had been collected and analysed.
This work has highlighted several target areas for more detailed exploration, including drilling.
Copper-in-soil geochemistry
