EPM 27452 – PALMERVILLE CENTRAL

Diversified Mining and Resources has acquired EPM 27452 from Native Mineral Resources, securing a highly prospective 214 km² tenure located entirely on Palmerville Station. The permit sits within one of North Queensland’s most significant intrusive-related gold–copper corridors, hosting the same geological units that formed the Mungana and Red Dome deposits.

Historic activity has focused on alluvial gold along the Palmer River, with five mining leases already operating inside the EPM. Previous drilling confirmed vein-hosted gold and associated pathfinder elements near the Palmerville Fault, while regional datasets highlight an untested magnetic high and multiple quartz vein systems yet to be sampled.

With known anomalies in lead, zinc, gold, and gold-copper structures, EPM 27452 represents a high-potential exploration asset now advancing under the DMR portfolio.

Local Geology 

EPM 27452 covers a key section of the north-trending Chillagoe Formation, a sequence of Ordovician–Silurian clastic sediments interbedded with thick limestone lenses and submarine volcanic units. Narrow ferruginous chert bands form ridgelines across the tenement, and their contacts with surrounding rocks are known to host copper mineralisation, highlighting the value of detailed magnetic surveying across the project.

This region has undergone intense deformation, particularly during the Devonian–Carboniferous, producing steeply dipping, north-oriented structures. These structural corridors, combined with widespread felsic intrusives, create favourable environments for gold–copper mineral systems. EPM 27452 sits within the Early Silurian/Devonian Chillagoe Formation and the Paleoproterozoic Dargalong Metamorphics of the Yambo Sub-province, represented by Chelmsford Gneiss to the west.

Five active mining leases are located within the EPM. Historical drilling targeted quartz-vein-hosted gold mineralisation containing arsenic, lead, bismuth, and antimony within Proterozoic Yambo Inlier rocks west of the Palmerville Fault. The Chillagoe Formation here is dominated by clastic sediments, limestone, and basic to intermediate volcanics, all strongly deformed into steep north–south orientations.

Felsic intrusives occur immediately north, south, and east of the tenement, with minor copper mineralisation recognised at Mountain Creek to the south. While the Chillagoe Formation itself has not produced significant alluvial gold, the major alluvial systems of the Palmer River are believed to have been sourced from quartz reefs within the overlying Hodgkinson Formation, which contributes to the broader gold endowment of the Palmerville region.

Exploration – Historic Activity

EPM 27452 has seen minimal modern exploration, with previous work largely limited to surface reconnaissance by NMR across the central and northern Palmerville Project. Early desktop studies identified strong prospectivity for gold and copper, consistent with regional structural and geophysical datasets.

Historic gold geochemistry shows a linear trend of elevated values in stream sediments along the north bank of the Palmer River, likely linked to alluvial transport. Additional elevated gold, manganese, and arsenic were recorded at the headwaters of Limestone Creek on the eastern margin of the tenement—immediately north of the Palmerville Station Prospect—indicating potential upstream mineralisation sources.

A significant composite magnetic high east of Palmerville remains completely untested, with no surface expression, marking it as a priority subsurface target. A second magnetic anomaly to the northwest coincides with a topographic high, providing another compelling structural–geophysical target for follow-up exploration.

Historic Tenure Work – Aquitane Australia Minerals (1975)

Aquitane Australia Minerals previously held A to P 1495M over the western portion of what is now EPM 27452, focusing particularly on the Chillagoe Formation. Their work included geological mapping, stream-sediment, soil, and auger sampling, targeting Cu-Pb-Zn anomalism. Aquitane completed an airborne magnetic survey across the entire area, followed by detailed ground magnetic surveys over selected prospects.

One key focus area was the Palmer Grid, located just north of the current EPM boundary. This broad zone of residual Tertiary gravels and alluvium has been historically worked for placer gold, with additional small-scale workings for copper, mercury, and antimony. Importantly, the geological trend that defines the Palmer Grid extends directly into EPM 27452, increasing the prospectivity for structurally controlled mineralisation within the current tenure.

Historic Tenure Work – CSR Limited (1981–1983)

CSR Limited held A to P 2866M, partly overlapping the Chillagoe Formation within the present EPM. Their exploration focus, however, was directed toward prospects south of EPM 27452—Mountain Creek and Kangaroo Creek—where they conducted targeted investigations for base metal and gold mineralisation. While these areas lie outside the current EPM, the regional geological continuity suggests similar mineralisation styles may occur within EPM 27452.

Airborne Geophysics

Previous EPM owner Native Mineral Resources (NMR) completed an extensive airborne magnetic and radiometric survey across the western portion of EPM 27452, targeting the Chillagoe Formation and surrounding geological units. The survey commenced on 6 April 2023 and concluded in May 2023 as part of a broader Palmerville Project survey undertaken in collaboration with the Queensland Government under the Collaborative Exploration Initiative (CEI).

The acquired datasets have since been processed and interpreted, producing a suite of enhanced geophysical images (examples shown in Figures 6–9). These results highlight a distinctive fold-like magnetic feature situated just south of the Palmer River crossing, coinciding with a possible tension fault zone. This structural alignment suggests the presence of a potentially mineralised corridor within the tenement.

As the new tenement holder, Diversified Mining and Resources will continue advancing exploration on EPM 27452, with a particular focus on the priority targets identified through the geophysics. Additional modelling, structural interpretation and follow-up fieldwork will be undertaken to define the geometry, depth, and mineral potential of these anomalies and to refine drill targets across the tenement.

Current Work Program

Recent work on the Palmerville Project has focused on advancing the structural and geophysical understanding of the northern tenements. Mitre Geophysics were engaged to complete a detailed interpretation of the area extending from north of the Mitchell River to the northern boundary of the project, incorporating the 2023 airborne magnetic and radiometric datasets collected by the previous EPM owner, Native Mineral Resources (NMR).

Mitre Geophysics utilised all available NMR datasets, publicly available geoscience information, and the newly acquired airborne data to map key magnetic stratigraphy and structural elements. Their interpretation applied multiple magnetic filters—including RTP, first and second derivatives, tilt derivative, VRMI, and analytic signal—allowing the identification of major N–S structural corridors intersected by a complex network of NE, NW, and E–W trending faults. These structures form a robust framework for future target generation across the Palmerville region.

As the new tenement holder, Diversified Mining and Resources (DMR) is now expanding this work program with on-ground validation, sampling, and structural mapping by the DMR fieldwork team. This next phase will refine priority targets identified in the geophysics and convert conceptual anomalies into drill-ready opportunities.

In parallel, DMR will also explore collaborations with existing alluvial mining operators on Palmerville Station to integrate local knowledge of paleo-channels, gravels, and geochemical trends. While these partnerships may inform near-surface opportunities, DMR’s core strategy remains focused on hard-rock gold, copper, and critical-mineral targets, particularly those associated with the major fault structures and magnetic anomalies highlighted in the recent geophysical interpretation.

This combined geophysical, structural, and field-driven approach will underpin the next phase of high-priority exploration across EPM 27452 and the broader Palmerville Project.

Implications for DMR Exploration Strategy

These targets exhibit similar structural and geophysical signatures to known ore bodies in the southern sector of the Chillagoe Formation. Although only smaller deposits have historically been identified in the northern sector, the combination of:

• complex fault interactions,
• magnetic bodies,
• favourable lithologies, and
• adjacent known copper–gold occurrences

indicates strong potential for hard-rock copper–gold discoveries within EPM 27452.

DMR will now advance the next stage of work by:

• Deploying the DMR fieldwork team

to ground-truth the structural targets through mapping, sampling and hyperspectral validation.

• Prioritising the NP-series magnetic/structural anomalies

for conceptual target refinement and drill planning.

• Exploring selective collaboration with active alluvial mining companies

to integrate local knowledge of gravels, drainage systems and paleochannels—supporting surface-level understanding while DMR focuses on deeper hard-rock systems.

• Advancing geophysical follow-up

including ground-based IP surveys, magnetic modelling and potential scout drilling where anomalies warrant.

The structural interpretation confirms a dominant north–south magnetic grain across the tenement, cut by highly prospective NE and NW fault sets—the same structural style hosting mineralisation in the southern Chillagoe district. This framework now provides DMR with a powerful platform for systematic exploration, target generation and future drilling campaigns.