Fairview Gold Project
Location and Tenure
The Fairview gold project, application for tenement E 08/3248 (Figure 17), is located on Wyloo cattle station within the Pilbara district of Western Australia approximately 200 km by road south-east of the nearest regional town at Onslow and approximately 345 km by road from the major port at Karratha (Figure 18).
Table 9: Fairview tenement summary.
|
Asset |
Holder |
State |
Interest (%) |
Status(1) |
Licence expiry date(2) |
Licence area (km2) |
Comments |
|
Fairview E08/3248 |
Pure Mining Pty Ltd |
Western Australia |
100 |
Exploration |
Application Pending |
38 |
Gold exploration |
The Fairview tenement application is accessible by gravel station tracks leading off the nearby bitumen Nanutarra-Paraburdoo Road. Access is possible all year except after occasional summer tropical storms when roads may be blocked due to flooding for short periods.
Figure 17: Fairview tenement – E 08/3248. (after GoogleEarth)
Figure 18: Fairview project location.
Physiography and climate
The Wyloo region that includes the project area comprises a landscape of prominent hills, incised valleys and plains. The climate is semi-arid, similar to Newman to the east, with very hot summers and mild winters. The temperature reaches or exceeds 38 °C for many days in the summer.
Precipitation is sparse, but the influx of monsoonal moisture in the summer, which generally begins in December and lasts until April, raises humidity levels and can cause occasional heavy storms. Winter months are mild to warm, with daily high temperatures ranging from the 20 °C to 26 °C, and low (night time) temperatures rarely dipping below 6 °C.
Regional Geology
The oldest rocks on the Wyloo 1:250,000 scale geology map are exposed in the core of the Wyloo Dome (Figure 19). These are a metamorphosed sequence of mafic volcanics, dolerite, gabbro, and minor chert that have been intruded by the Metawandy Granite. These basement rocks are generally schistose and in part unconformably overlain by rocks of the Wyloo Group which underlay the Fairview tenement.
The Wyloo Group comprises a sequence of interbedded sandstones, mudstones, conglomerates, siltstones, dolostones, mafic and felsic volcanics and volcaniclastic rocks, banded iron formation and cherts. The Wyloo Group is subdivided into a lower succession consisting of the Beasley River Quartzite and the overlying Cheela Springs Basalt, and an upper succession comprising the Mount McGrath Formation, Duck Creek Dolomite, June Hill Volcanics and Ashburton Formation. The Fairview tenement application is located in this upper succession.
Figure 19: Fairview regional geology. (after GSWA, Wyloo 1:250,000 sheet)
Local Geology
The majority of the Fairview tenement application is composed of sediments from the Upper Wyloo Group called the Ashburton Formation, a sequence of submarine-fan and associated basin-plain sediments that are composed of conglomerates, wackes, mudstones, ferruginous mudstones with minor cherts. A small patch of older Duck Creek Dolomites outcrops in the northern end of the tenement. These units both host gold and base metal deposits throughout the district including the nearby Paulsens Gold Mine and Mt Clemment gold, silver and antinomy deposits.
A northwest-southeast striking narrow dolerite dyke cuts across the axis of the tenement following a shear zone that previous explorers have determined to host anomalous gold and base metal mineralisation.
Figure 20: Fairview local geology. (after GSWA, Wyloo 1:250,000 sheet)
Figure 21: RTP aeromagnetics at Fairview.
Other Nearby Deposits
The Artemis (ASX: ARV) Mt Clement project, also within the Ashburton Formation, is located approximately 3.5 km southeast of the Fairview project. Northern Star Resources (ASX: NST) has executed an agreement with joint venture (JV) partner Artemis Resources to buy the Mt Clement gold project in Western Australia in 2020. The Mt Clement project includes multiple known precious and base metal prospects.
The main prospect at Mount Clement lies within a lens of oxidized and silicified siliciclastic and chemical rocks which are generally conformably confined within the Ashburton Formation. The Main prospect is interpreted as a sediment-hosted, deep-marine, hot-spring deposit. The Eastern prospect at Mount Clement is a sulphide bearing fracture filling formed as a result of dextral wrenching after the deposition of the Ashburton Formation. It is characterised by anomalous levels of silver, arsenic and gold which may have been derived, in part by leaching of wall rocks.
The Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) Paulsens Gold Mine with mothballed plant is approximately 30 km to the northeast of Fairview and located in the Fortescue Group sediments within the Lower Wyloo Group (Figure 19).
Historical Exploration
The following are selected notes on past exploration sourced from the Geological Survey of Western Australia (GSWA) WAMEX website:
Noranda Australia Ltd – (WAMEX A7703, A7796)
Noranda’s Mount Clement Project gold/copper-lead-zinc exploration covered a much larger area than the Fairview EL application but included much of the southern portion of the Fairview tenement application.
Noranda conducted an investigation between 1977 and 1979 into the potential for gold and base metals within the Lower Proterozoic shale, dolomite and banded iron formation. Geochemical and geophysical results indicated a zone of weak base metal sulphide. Approximately 150 stream sediment and channel chip samples were taken. Six of chip samples within the Fairview tenement application produced anomalous gold results with three above 1.0 g/t Au; i.e. 6.8, 3.8 and 1.9 g/t Au (Figure 20). This sampling was carried out prior to JORC Code (2012) reporting of exploration results and so these results are provided as an indicative guide only as they cannot be independently verified. This mapping was done using a local grid and distorted aerial photos so the actual locations of the drilling and mapping are only approximate and will need to be checked in the field.
Aberfoyle Resources Ltd – (WAMEX A34723)
Aberfoyle Resource’s Yandi Well Gold Project also covered a much larger area than the Fairview EL application but included much of the Fairview tenement application. Reconnaissance exploration for gold was concentrated immediately west of the Mount Clement deposit within the Ashburton Formation arenites and pelites between 1991 and 1992.
A total of 74 stream sediment samples were collected producing a weak 1.2 ppb Au anomaly which was not followed up. Approximately 9 rock chip samples were also taken with one rock chip from an altered and gossanous quartz vein contained 0.1% As.
Billiton Australia Pty Ltd – (WAMEX A26616)
During 1987 to 1991 Billiton Australia conducted gold and base metal exploration over an area which included the north eastern edge of the Fairview tenement application. Gold mineralisation was being sought in the Lower Proterozoic Wyloo Group, especially within the Duck Creek Dolomite and the Mt McGrath Formation. Reconnaissance exploration activities included geological mapping, interpretation of Landsat data, rock chip sampling and BLEG stream sediment sampling. Follow-up exploration comprised ground magnetics, soil sampling, trenching and percussion drilling. It would seem that Billiton’s main exploration focus was testing intersecting lineaments and faults.
Stream BLEG sampling by Billiton delineated two anomalous zones that straddle the Fairview tenement application (Figure 20). These anomalies were followed up by Billiton with ground magnetics, trenching, soil sampling and percussion drilling.
A total of 35 RC holes were drilled for 1,540 m to test trench anomalies (>0.1g/t Au over 2m) on their Woolshed grid and a 40 ppb Au soil anomaly on their Western grid. Of these holes 7 were within the Fairview tenement and were targeting intersecting lineaments (Figure 20). The only anomalous sample was 2 m @ 0.19 g/t Au in MCP31 but it is noted that only 3 (MCP30, MCP31 and MCP32) of the 7 holes were effective and penetrated the surficial Quaternary alluvials to reach the target bedrock below leaving the target not properly tested.
The project subsequently changed ownership several times to ACM Gold Ltd and Australian Ores & Minerals Ltd. Minor additional stream sediment sampling and rock chipping was undertaken by these companies but they failed to identify any significant anomalies.
Adelaide Prospecting Pty Ltd – (WAMEX A63471)
Exploration by Adelaide included only the northern half of the Australasian tenement application and comprised compiling and interpretation of all available historical geological, geochemical and geophysical data sets.
Their JV partner Goldfields Exploration Pty Ltd proposed an RC drilling program but the full program was not completed. Following Goldfields’ withdrawal, survey work, drill hole re-logging and further prospecting was subsequently completed by Adelaide Prospecting. During the 2000-2001 they reported on their rock chip and soil sampling and drilling.
Their mapping within Australasia’s E08/3248 included a number of outcrops with galena (indicating lead mineralisation) and gossans (indicating weathered sulphide mineralisation) and vertical RAB hole HJR012 produced 4m @ 1.25 g/t Au at 18-22 m depth (Figure 20). This mapping was done using a local grid and distorted aerial photos so the actual locations of the drilling and mapping are only approximate and will need to be checked in the field.
Jackson Minerals Limited – (WAMEX A79573)
Exploration by Jackson over their exploration licence comprised a review of historic exploration, a literature review, rock chip sampling and processing of airborne geophysical data. During the 2007-2008 Jackson collected seven rock-chip samples within the Fairview tenement with peak results of 0.37 ppm Au and 1890 ppm Cu (Figure 20).
Exploration Targets
The main exploration focus at Fairview will be along the deep northeast striking structure along which a dolerite intruded that passes through the extent of the Fairview tenement application. This feature is visible as a magnetic low in the regional aeromagnetics (Figure 21).
Of special note are the two magnetic high nodes at the southern end of the tenement application, either side of the dolerite. The eastern node is in the vicinity of the anomalous Noranda rock chips (Figure 20). Despite these anomalous samples, this area has not been drilled to date.
A re-interpretation by Marquee Resources of their Mt Clement project, recently acquired from Artemis Resources Ltd, indicates that the Mt Clement deposit is associated with discrete magnetic highs within a broader magnetic low zone. Their interpretation is that the low-magnetic zones may represent granitic intrusions at depth, a potential fluid source for mineralisation, while the discrete magnetic highs represent hypogene and supergene alteration (forming iron-oxides) of the metasedimentary host rocks hosting the Mt Clement style mineralisation. The magnetic high nodes at Fairview are potentially similar to the Mt Clement mineralisation.
Australasian believe that the Billiton soil sampling anomalies and Adelaide’s mapping of galena and gossans in outcrops at the northern end of the Fairview tenement application have not been properly tested by the previous explorers providing immediate exploration targets for Australasian.
Once the tenement has been granted, Australasian plan to carry out stream sediment sampling along the numerous ephemeral streams found throughout the tenement. This sampling will then be followed up with gridded soil sampling at an appropriate spacing in targeted areas. Any anomalous soil sampling will then be followed up with RAB the RC drilling.