Minotaur Exploration is focusing on ground near the Eloise copper-gold mine in north-west Queensland and Prominent Hill in South Australia in an intense end-of-year drill push to find new commercial base metals ore bodies.

The Adelaide-based company says the targets within the dual campaigns are no more than 22km from a mine face, yet have never been drilled previously.

A 2270m diamond drill program is under way to test four shallow geophysical targets along strike of and to the south of the Eloise mine, 55km south-east of Cloncurry.

Minotaur’s tenements there have attracted investment to date by OZ Minerals of $3.2 million under joint venture, targeting the iron sulphide (ISCG) style of mineralisation familiar at the Eloise mine.

Minotaur managing director Andrew Woskett said the targets were within 5km of Eloise and the Altia lead, silver, zinc deposit and only 10km from the Maronan lead, silver and copper deposit.

In SA, Minotaur says it and OZ Minerals have finalised a drill plan, scheduled to start late this month on four targets immediately north of the Prominent Hill mine, prioritised after an extensive ground electromagnetic survey in the area last month. The focus is a significant regional structure known as the Skylark Shear Zone.

Mr Woskett said the two-pronged exploration campaign meant a period of intense operational activity through to end of calendar year for the company, which also has other base metals exploration work under way near Cloncurry with Japan’s JOGMEC, and on several nickel projects in WA.

Minotaur Exploration made the original 2001 Prominent Hill discovery that led to today’s major mine operation.