Mining company Astute Metals NL, in collaboration with Fleet Space Technologies, started an ambient noise tomography (ANT) geophysical survey on the Ranken tenements in Australia.

The Ranken tenement area is part of the company's wholly-owned Georgina Iron Oxide Copper Gold (IOCG) Project in the Northern Territory.

Fleet Space's two-stage ANT survey at the tenements will focus on determining the thickness of the cover and identifying seismic velocity anomalies that could indicate the presence of mineralisation.

The survey is expected to be completed by the end of the month and the final data is anticipated to be delivered to Astute in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Astute expects the survey data to provide insights into the copper, silver, zinc and lead exploration potential at Ranken. It will also be instrumental in planning future drill holes at the Ranken Project.

Furthermore, Astute has secured co-funding from the Northern Territory Government for a VTEM Max airborne electromagnetic survey.

This grant, worth up to $100,000, is part of the Geophysics and Drilling Collaborations programme's 17th round.

The VTEM Max survey is designed to detect sulphide-rich copper deposits and will cover most of EL32282.

In a statement, Astute said: “The Company considers that the area being surveyed has excellent potential for mineralisation amenable to direct detection. In addition, the survey will cover a number of areas of interpreted alteration that were identified as conceptual exploration targets as part of a 2021 SRK prospectivity review undertaken by the previous holder, Greenvale Energy.”

Scheduled to start in mid-to-late September 2024, the VTEM Max survey results are expected in the fourth quarter of 2024.