Olivers Patch Area

Candle, Lantern, Olivers Patch, Cap Lamp, Mustang Sally and Middle Bore

The area is considered prospective for a number of gold mineralisation types including:

Shear zone hosted lode style mineralisation hosted in mafic, ultramafic and felsic volcanics
Banded Iron hosted “Hill 50” style replacement deposits
High grade quartz vein “Day Dawn” style mineralisation hosted within dolerite and basalt
Felsic porphyry hosted quartz stockwork and ladder vein mineralisation

The stratigraphic sequence to the west of and adjacent to the Big Bell shear contains all the above rock types and systematic exploration has not been undertaken historically where the NNW trending splays off the Big Bell shear intersect these lithologies. Previous explorers have noted repeated observation of sericite-chlorite-carbonate alteration and pyrite-arsenopyrite mineralisation associated with gold mineralisation, which the company believes indicative of large Archean gold hydrothermal systems.

History

A number of companies have held tenure in the area; however no systematic exploration was completed over the larger project area due to fractured ownership, and changing commodities focus over time from gold to base metals and then to iron ore. This has resulted in incomplete programmes, particularly for gold, that focused on stratigraphic trends rather than cross-cutting structural targets that the company’s geologists believe offer enhanced prospectivity.

As an example early limited RAB drilling at Candle was oriented across the NNW-trending structures and intersected significant shallow gold mineralisation, however more detailed follow-up drill traverses were oriented parallel to the trend and failed to adequately test the likely mineralisation trend.