Daly Resources (ASX: DLY) has confirmed that a regional airborne electromagnetic (VTEM) survey is underway at its Broughton copper-zinc project in the Northern Territory.

The program is supported by $150,000 in co-funding awarded under Round 19 of the Northern Territory government's geophysics and drilling collaborations program, which co-funds exploration activities designed to encourage new mineral discoveries in the territory. Co-funding schemes of this kind offset part of the cost of early-stage geophysics and drilling, making higher-risk greenfields work more viable for junior explorers in under-explored regions.

Broughton is located approximately 600 kilometres southeast of Darwin in the northern McArthur Basin, within the broader Carpentaria Zinc Belt — a major world province for sediment-hosted zinc-lead-silver deposits that includes McArthur River (HYC) in the Northern Territory and Century in Queensland. Copper is a core input to electrical infrastructure, power networks and electric vehicles, while zinc's principal use is galvanising steel to prevent corrosion. The survey is being flown across priority copper-zinc target areas within granted exploration licences EL32992 and EL32993.

It comprises approximately 2,018 line kilometres at 400-metre line spacing across two priority survey blocks, and will deliver Daly's first modern airborne electromagnetic dataset over the priority target corridors at Broughton.

VTEM — versatile time-domain electromagnetics — is a helicopter-borne geophysical method that measures how the ground responds to a transmitted electromagnetic pulse, allowing conductive rock units and sulphide-bearing horizons to be distinguished from more resistive host rocks. Airborne electromagnetics is widely used in Australian base metal exploration because it covers large areas quickly and can map conductivity variations at depth in terrain where prospective geology is concealed beneath cover.

"We are pleased to have commenced the VTEM survey at Broughton, marking an important step in advancing this highly prospective copper-zinc project," Executive Chairman Mike Edwards said.

"The survey will deliver Daly's first modern airborne electromagnetic dataset across priority target corridors in the northern McArthur Basin and is designed to test the relationship between surface copper-zinc anomalism, favourable stratigraphy and interpreted structural corridors.

"By mapping conductive stratigraphy and discrete conductive anomalies, the program is expected to materially improve our ability to define higher-confidence targets for follow-up exploration, helping us refine and prioritise where we ultimately position our drill holes."

Exploration model

Mr Edwards said Daly's exploration model at Broughton is focused on sediment-hosted copper-zinc mineralisation within the northern McArthur Basin. The model applies a hybrid petroleum-minerals systems approach, informed by sediment-hosted base metal systems such as Century in Queensland.

Under this model, metal-bearing basin fluids move through permeable stratigraphy and major structural corridors, with sulphide deposition occurring where those fluids interact with reduced sedimentary units, hydrocarbons and favourable trap sites.

At Broughton, the key mineral-system components include potential metal sources within the Katherine River Group, evaporite-bearing units capable of generating basin brines, organic-rich Roper Group facies that may act as reductants, and interpreted structures and fold-related traps that may have focused fluid movement.

Historical work and targeting

Historical exploration has defined multiple base metal prospects and broad copper-zinc surface geochemical anomalism across the project area. Daly considers these features may represent leakage from a concealed mineral system, and has prioritised areas where surface anomalism coincides with favourable stratigraphy and interpreted structural corridors.

The VTEM survey now underway is designed to test this model by mapping subsurface conductivity variations, identifying conductive stratigraphic horizons and assisting with the interpretation of major structures that may have acted as fluid pathways.

Discrete conductive anomalies identified through the survey will be assessed alongside existing geological and geochemical datasets, with priority given to areas where conductive responses coincide with favourable stratigraphy, structural complexity and copper-zinc anomalism.

Prior to market open, shares in DLY were steady at 15.8 cents, with a market capitalisation of $14.33 million.