Ivanhoe Electric says it has deployed a new generation Typhoon mineral exploration survey system in the US under its contract with BHP.
The two companies announced an alliance and initial US$15 million BHP funding commitment last year. Under the arrangement Ivanhoe Electric personnel are operating the Typhoon geophysics survey equipment and overseeing exploration.
The alliance was actively exploring six areas of interest in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, Ivanhoe Electric said this week.
“The first Typhoon survey of the alliance has commenced, exploring a major porphyry copper trend in Arizona,” it said.
“A new-generation Typhoon unit was mobilised in early December to commence the alliance’s first deep-penetrating geophysical survey.
“The initial Typhoon survey is being completed along a well-known and major porphyry copper trend with a significant production history and a large endowment of copper in current reserves and resources in the region.”
Ivanhoe Electric said more than 5600 line-kilometres of airborne magnetic surveying and 1500 line-kilometres of hyperspectral surveying had also been completed.
“The Basin and Range province of the Southwest US remains one of the most promising frontiers for porphyry exploration,” the company’s executive chairman, Robert Friedland, said.
“Together with BHP we have deployed a new generation Typhoon system to look for potential world-class deposits that are hidden from the surface by younger cover rocks.”
About 110sq.km of unpatented mining claims have been staked across Arizona and New Mexico by the alliance.
Ivanhoe Electric said Typhoon survey results would be processed by Computational Geosciences and integrated with other data to develop the alliance’s initial drill targets.
CEO Taylor Melvin said this week the company’s US exploration team had advanced “multiple large-scale and early-stage exploration projects” in 2024.
“We are using the seasonal winter break in drilling to evaluate our 2024 results, review new potential projects and prioritise our 2025 exploration plans in the US,” he said.
Ivanhoe Electric completed about 34,000m of drilling across projects in its US portfolio in 2024.
