DIG CT, a niche mineral exploration drilling company founded in Western Australia, has reported that after three successful months drilling at Premier1 Lithium’s 40%-owned Moonera project, in the Madura Province of WA, its CT500 rig has delved to 500.9 m, yielding high-quality core samples every 50 m.

DIG is focused on showcasing and commercialising MinEx Cooperative Research Centre’s (MinEx CRC) prototype Coil Tubing (CT) rig globally, with the Moonera project acting as the latest place the technology will be showcased.

The company reported: “As with any drilling program, there have been challenges, specifically record rain and flooding – all within our inaugural week of drilling!”

The highlights include:

• Successfully completing two drill holes with a third about to commence; and
• Drilling the deepest hole and core section the CT500 rig has ever achieved;

Moonera, a copper and rare earth elements joint venture project, is around one hour’s drive east of Cocklebiddy or more specifically, 1,231 km east of Perth, Western Australia, and 271 km to the Western/South Australian border. The project was aptly named given its proximity to Moonera Agricultural Station, known for its vast pastoral enterprises (sheep grazing), reported to be larger than some sovereign countries.

Back in March, Premier1 Lithium said that the Geological Survey of Western Australia (GSWA) previously advised SensOre (now Premier1) in 2023 that it wished to use the coiled-tube drilling method to test its applicability in the area. The program, as it was envisaged then, consisted of three to four deep drill holes and was part of a precompetitive stratigraphic borehole program which will fill a gap in GSWA drilling in the region.

This work is part of a long-running precompetitive geoscience program by GSWA which will improve understanding of the mineral, energy and groundwater potential of the region. MinEx CRC seeks to obtain drill core, chips and downhole data (such as semi-automated scanned geochemistry) from a series of stratigraphic boreholes up to an approximate depth of 700 m, penetrating through cover of the Eucla Basin. The obtained multi-element data will allow Premier1 to further test the copper and rare earth element potential of the project at no cost. The boreholes also further test the use of novel, smaller footprint coiled-tube drilling techniques for stratigraphic drilling in covered geological terranes.

DIG CT says the CT500 rig is now expected to move onto the Pilbara where the coiled-tube drilling techniques will be further tested.