Strategic Energy Resources (SER) is set to acquire Anglo American’s Diamantina copper-gold project in Queensland, expanding the company’s presence in the Mount Isa region.
Situated 280km south of Cloncurry, Diamantina comprises two granted exploration licences and three exploration licence applications, totalling over 1500km2.
The project spans the projected undercover southern extension of the Mt Isa Eastern Fold Belt and is bounded to the west by the Pilgram Fault. The Proterozoic rocks within the Mount Isa Inlier Eastern Fold Belt are known to host iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG) mineralisation.
“The Mount Isa Inlier is one of the most metallogenic regions in the world and it is our belief that undercover extensions both north and south are the next frontier for major mineral discoveries,” SER managing director David DeTata said.
“SER has already secured the northern extensions with our Isa North and Canobie projects and with acquisition of Diamantina and the surrounding ground, we now control the southern extension.
“Since 2018, Anglo American has actively explored the southern undercover extensions of the Mount Isa Inlier, completing a large-scale, systematic, mineral systems exploration program to reduce the search space to the two key tenements which we have now acquired.”
A standout deposit at Diamantina is the Elizabeth Springs East prospect, which saw a drillhole intersect a broad 161m zone of elevated copper and gold. The 17.37m high-grade copper zone intersected from 465.3m contained magnetite-rich IOCG alteration.
While the acquisition of Diamantina takes place, SER will review historical geophysical and drill core data from the site and negotiate land access agreements to pave way for a field visit to take place later this year.
A drill program at Diamantina is expected to commence in early 2026.
Subscribe to Australian Mining and receive the latest news on product announcements, industry developments, commodities and more.