Fleet Space wins share of $2.9m in SA mining grants to boost exploration
Adelaide nanosatellites business Fleet Space has won a significant state mining grant for a ‘world-first’ trial that also involves OZ Minerals and the University of Adelaide.
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A new project by SA satellite company Fleet to “bridge the gap” between space and on-ground capabilities, for the benefit of the resources sector, has received $275,000 from the State Government.
Fleet Space, co-founded by former Italian rocket scientist Flavia Tata Nardini, is the only space-focused business to win a share of the $2.9 million from the Accelerated Discovery Initiative (ADI). Fleet Space will work with SA miner OZ Minerals, which owns and operates the remote Prominent Hill and Carrapateena mines and is undertaking significant copper exploration work in the state, and the University of Adelaide.
The project involves installing large arrays of wireless sensors for remote mapping of heat flow underground to identify exploration targets.
Iron Oxide Copper Gold (IOCG) deposits are generally associated with high amounts of uranium that lead to significant heat flow anomalies.
OZ has been investigating new exploration techniques using machine learning and new data capture methods to accelerate discoveries. Now, with the addition of nanosatellite connectivity from Fleet Space and research from the University of Adelaide, huge amounts of new data can be used to efficiently explore deeper in most remote regions.
Spatial mapping of heat flow may provide an innovative approach to exploration through this world-first trial, Ms Tata Nardini said.
“It is essentially using loads needles or sensors in the ground to send data to our portal, using a Long Range Wide Area Network technology (LoRaWAN) and communicating that back to OZ using our nanosatellites,” she said. “This is about trialling less expensive options instead of the traditionally expensive and labour-intensive hole digging.”
The project at a site identified by OZ will take about six to seven months and more funding will be raised through the space industry funding programs, she said.
From just nine staff a year ago, Beverley-based Fleet Space’s ongoing hiring spree will help it hit the 40-plus mark in July as it gears up to launch another three to four nanosatellites into space.
Separately, Marmota was awarded a $225,000 grant towards its biogeochemical (tree sampling) exploration program to identify gold targets. Marmota made a significant gold discovery in the state’s Far North by detecting elevated levels of gold in tree leaves at the surface. Argonaut Resources will receive $320,000 towards the planned drilling of its Murdie copper project in the Eastern Gawler Craton. Minotaur Exploration has been awarded $300,000 for its Peake and Denison base metals exploration project in the Far North. Boss Resources is getting $275,000 to explore for more uranium using new geophysical techniques close to its Honeymoon mine.
Mining and Energy Minister Dan van Holst Pellekaan said the successful applicants came from a range of candidates, with many pushing the boundaries of conventional exploration. “Several of the funded proposals … are directed at targets in frontier exploration districts where successful outcomes have the potential to open up new search spaces,” he said.