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Sustainability Report 2015 47
BYRAH BASIN JOINT VENTURE
IGO’s exploration joint venture with Alchemy Resources
Limited has the potential for IGO to earn a 70 to 80%
interest in the Bryah Basin Project.
The Byrah Basin JV is 100km north of Meekatharra in
Western Australia, north-west of the Great Northern
Highway. Following the discovery of the high-grade
DeGrussa VMS copper-gold deposit in 2009, the area has
become an exploration hotspot as VMS-style ore bodies
often occur in clusters or camps.
IGO’s activities over the past year have comprised air core
and RC drill testing of a favourable stratigraphic horizon,
along which numerous geochemical anomalies have
been defined. The southern and eastern portion of the
project fall within the former Doolgunna Pastoral Lease,
which is now designated as a Proposed Conservation
Area under the control of the Department of Parks and
Wildlife. The JV operates under an approved Environmental
and Conservation Management Plan (ECMP) developed
by Alchemy for those areas that fall within the former
Doolgunna Pastoral Lease. The ECMP includes a risk
assessment and protocols for proactive environmental
management and rehabilitation.
SALT CREEK JOINT VENTURE
The Salt Creek JV (SCJV) comprises tenements that were
previously part of the Tropicana JV with AngloGold Ashanti.
The JV area is approximately 220 km east of Kalgoorlie
in the Great Victoria Desert. The tenements are now
in a reverse JV with AngloGold Ashanti where IGO may
increase its equity in the project tenure from 30% to 70%
via exploration expenditure. IGO’s principal interest in the
SCJV is exploration for magmatic nickel-copper sulphides
similar in style to the Nova-Bollinger deposits located south
of the JV area. IGO has been undertaking a combination of
moving loop electromagnetic surveys, gravity surveys and
aircore drilling to vector in to areas of highest prospectivity.
Due to the location of the SCJV, some of the activities are
designated as a ‘controlled action’ under the
Environment
Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
(EPBC
Act) requiring adherence to an approved Conservation
and Environmental Management Plan (CEMP). The CEMP
requires the risks and potential impacts of exploration
activities to be assessed and management measures to be
put in place to mitigate these impacts.
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