Byro East Project
Murchison, Western Australia
Project Overview
REE Carbonatite & Magmatic Ni-Cu-PGE Project
The Byro East project covers a largely contiguous land position of over 1000 km2 located within the Narryer Terrane of the Murchison.
100% owned by Cosmos, work done by the company has identified a silicate-alkaline carbonatite complex at the Leatherback propsect; with a strike length of over 3.5km. Highly enriched in REE with maximum TREYO rock chip values of 2.2% (33% NdPr) and multiple assays in excess of 0.5% TREYO.
Located in a similar geological setting to Julimar (Gonneville) and the Nova Bollinger deposit, the project area is also prospective for Magmatic Ni-Cu-PGE deposits. Recent fieldwork identified a nickel laterite sample of 0.54% Ni & 0.78% Cr (ASX Announcement – 11/04/24).
Furthermore, systematic geophysical surveys undertaken by Cosmos since acquisition have identified 31 priority one conductors constituting a number of drill-ready targets alongside a much greater quantity of lower priority conductors.
Regional Geology
Globally Significant for Gold & Nickel
The Byro East Project is located within the Narryer Terrane, a gneissic terrane at the north-western corner of the Yilgarn Craton and is geologically distinct from the granite-greenstone terranes to the south and east.
The Yilgarn Craton has been divided into a series of major provinces, terranes, and domains and is globally significant for gold and nickel endowment, including other base metals and industrial minerals. The Narryer Terrane is a sub-set of the Yilgarn Craton that has been historically underexplored in the view of Cosmos compared to other parts of the Craton.
The main deformation events within the Narryer Terrane are related to continental scale collisions. The 2700-2650 Ma collision between the Narryer and Murchison Terranes along the Yalgar Fault Zone. The 2000-1960 Ma Glenburgh Orogeny which occurred along the Errabiddy Shear and thrust the Glenburgh Terrane over the Narryer Terrane and finally the 1830-1780 Ma Capricorn Orogeny related to the collision between the Pilbara and Yilgarn Cratons.
The Byro East project area itself lies approximately 35km south of the Earrabiddy Shear Zone, and therefore is situated along a favourable structural conduit comprised of a number of deep-seated & ancient re-activated fault structures.
Historical Exploration
Limited Exploration Completed to Date
Historical exploration throughout the tenure package was fragmented and, in general, restricted to limited areas of outcrop. Only wide-spaced sampling was undertaken with a limited assay suite disclosed.
Drilling has been predominantly focussed on magmatic Ni-Cu-PGE (primarily in the vicinity of the Milly Mily intrusion immediately to the west of Cosmos’ tenure) with some notable efforts to identify economic iron deposits from the widely dispersed BIF units in the area.
No work of substance has been completed with a REE/carbonatite lens applied since a very broad-scale survey by Anglo Australian located elevated Ce in the 1980’s. Anglo Australian did not complete any follow-up work as they failed to identify outcropping alkaline intrusions (since delineated by Cosmos – ASX Announcement – 11/04/24).
Since acquisition Cosmos has undertaken detailed infill aerial magnetic, radiometric, gravity and VTEM surveys in addition to a sustained and iterative geochemical surface sampling campaign across the lower four contiguous tenements (ASX Announcement – 25/11/22).
Recent geological mapping and rock chipping (ASX Announcement – 31/01/24) has resulted in the identification of 5 mineralised trend.
Future Activities
Operations Roadmap
The company was successfully awarded an EIS Co-Funded drilling grant (ASX Announcement – 17/05/24) to delineate the complex already identified at Leatherback through a hybrid AC-RC drill programme. Planning for this programme is underway.
Work remains ongoing to prioritise remaining Ni conductors for drill testing. Future fieldwork is also planned to be undertaken to progress other REE targets identified within the Byro East tenure which are highly anomalous in a regional context.
