PACE 2020 Discovery Drilling 2012 : Year 7 Drilling Partnership no. DPY7-12 - Doray Minerals Limited Nuckulla Hill Project. Bimba prospect, EL 4302, drilling project final report.
Created: 12 Nov 2024 Revised: 12 Nov 2024

The Nuckulla Hill gold-silver Project tenements, located to the north-east of Ceduna, cover approximately 60 km of strike length of the mineralised Yarlbrinda Shear Zone (YSZ). They lie approximately 35 km south of the Mungana Gold Mines (72%) and...

The Nuckulla Hill gold-silver Project tenements, located to the north-east of Ceduna, cover approximately 60 km of strike length of the mineralised Yarlbrinda Shear Zone (YSZ). They lie approximately 35 km south of the Mungana Gold Mines (72%) and Helix Resources (28%) - owned Tunkillia deposit which is reported to contain 0.88 Moz Au and 2.5 Moz Ag (Mungana Gold Mines Ltd Annual Report 2013). The subject project consists of three exploration licences covering 640 square km. To satisfy the drilling subsidy agreement made with DMITRE for approved PACE Year 7 project DPY7-12, for exploring a gold prospect located in the north of EL 4302, licensee Doray Minerals completed 7 RC holes (including 2 failed collars) for a total penetration of 1106 m, plus 42 aircore (AC) holes for a total 1877 m, between 26/06/2013 and 9/08/2013. Three inclined RC holes were designed to test the down dip and along strike continuity of the Bimba prospect, identified by Equinox Resources in the mid 1990s. Outcrop is virtually non-existent within the Bimba prospect area, which is covered by transported colluvium up to 6 m deep, with up to 4 m thickness of silcrete and ferricrete beneath that. One of the best historic drill intercepts made at the Bimba prospect was 24 m @ 1.0g/t Au (incl. 8 m @ 1.8g/t Au) from 122–146 m depth. One PACE RC hole was planned to test the down dip potential of this intercept. Two inclined RC holes were planned to test a parallel structure to the west of Bimba, defined by the 2010 aeromagnetic survey conducted by Doray. This structure coincides with lead anomalism (up to 1950 ppm Pb) recorded in historic AC holes. Two AC mode hole drilling traverses were completed by the same RC rig, to test an interpreted dilational jog north of the Bimba prospect that had the potential to host significant gold mineralisation beneath transported cover. All RC and AC holes were drilled grid east and at -60° dip. Weather caused significant delays, with 71 mm of rain recorded between 12-14/7/2012, and another 17 mm recorded from 18-19/7/2012. Maintenance issues and ground conditions (swelling clays) also plagued the programme which, due to time constraints and other commitments, had to be curtailed, resulting in 22 of the proposed AC holes not being drilled. The priority RC drilling of the Bimba prospect confirmed that there is along-strike continuity of a mineralised structure; however, the gold grades encountered are sub-economic, with a best intercept made in BIRC006, of 28 m @ 0.58 g/t Au from 144 m depth. The downdip continuity and grade of this structure still remains unknown. Hole BIRC001 was drilled to TD 254 m, and intersected 1 m @ 0.58 g/t Au from 39 m, and 1 m @ 1.05 g/t Au from 55 m. Both of these intercepts represent supergene gold remobilised to saprolitic weathering horizons. The anticipated Bimba intercept was predicted to lie at somewhere from 170-230 m depth. Several sheared/mylonitic zones were logged, some containing trace pyrite, but no significant gold mineralisation was found. Hole BIRC006 extended the strike of the Nuckulla structure a further 50 m southwards, by making an intercept of 28 m @ 0.58 g/t Au from 144 m (including 16 m @ 0.72 g/t from 156 m). The mineralisation was hosted in an albite-chlorite altered granitoid showing some minor sulphide content. Hole BIRC003 was drilled 200 m to the north of the previous northernmost Bimba intercept. This hole was drilled to TD 264 m, and intersected 1 m @ 0.14 g/t Au from 236 m, and 2 m @ 0.25 g/t Au from 238 m depth. This mineralisation was hosted in an albite-chlorite altered granitoid showing moderate shearing. It is thought possible that this mineralisation represents a continued Bimba structure. Step-out exploratory RC drilling (PACE 2020 holes BIRC004 and BIRC005) of the soil lead geochemical anomaly which coincides with a magnetic structure west of Bimba returned best results in hole BIRC004 of 4 m @ 0.16 g/t Au from 44 m, and 4 m @ 0.16 g/t from 76 m depth. The drilling of BIRC004 and BIRC005 on this structure confirmed that trace amounts of remobilised gold occur at basal weathering horizons, as well as some anomalous gold in fresh bedrock. Unfortunately, none of the assay results were of economic significance. BIRC002 and BIRC002A were both failed holes due to the presence of swelling clays. BIRC006 was then drilled to cover the target not reached by BIRC002 or BIRC002A. The AC bedrock drilling programme conducted along two traverses returned no significant assay values, and was cut short due to other commitments. Despite the low grade results obtained from the PACE 2020-assisted Bimba prospect drilling, in Doray's view the Nuckulla Hill Au-Ag project area remains highly prospective, given its location within the YSZ, along strike from Tunkillia. The exploration work history of the region has been sporadic, and virtually no systematic gold exploration has been carried out since 1997, despite the increase in the gold (and silver) price since then. Consequently, the area remains significantly underexplored. Gold mineralisation identified by previous explorers at the Sheoak, Myall and Bimba prospects was found by drilling into only the most obvious calcrete gold anomalies. A number of structural targets, including some identified in the 2010 airborne magnetic survey, have not been tested, either by surface sampling or by drilling. Some of these structural targets are located beneath sand dune cover, where calcrete sampling is considered to be of questionable effectiveness. It is suggested that the conduct of orientation surface soil or other sampling across localities with anomalous, wide spaced calcrete samples will help determine if there is in fact a cost-effective geochemical method for generating robust drill targets beneath the Quaternary dune cover.

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About this record

Record No mesac25597
Topic Geoscientific Information
Type of Resource Document
Category Type
Document Type Mineral Company Report - Mineral Exploration
Contributor
Sponsor
Tenement
Tenement Holder Doray Minerals Limited
Operator
Geological Province
Mine Name Bimba prospect
Stratigraphy Tunkillia Suite
Commodity
Notes
Notes: PACE project code DPY7-12 : company exploration drilling actual total cost was $194,848.32 (excluding Goods and Services Tax), out of which PACE Initiative funds have paid $70,000.00 (excl. GST).
Geographic Locality: Central-western Gawler...

Notes: PACE project code DPY7-12 : company exploration drilling actual total cost was $194,848.32 (excluding Goods and Services Tax), out of which PACE Initiative funds have paid $70,000.00 (excl. GST). Geographic Locality: Central-western Gawler Ranges;Nuckulla Hill;Lake Gairdner;Yarlbrinda Shear Zone Doc No: Env 12619 Drillhole: BIRC001 - BIRC002a;(278718 - 278720);BIRC003 - BIRC 006;(278721 - 278724);BIAC001 - BIAC042;(278676 - 278717) Drillhole Unit No: 5834 00812;THROUGH;5834 00859

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Language English
Metadata Standard ISO 19115-3

Citations

Use constraints License
License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
Persistent identifier https://pid.sarig.sa.gov.au/document/mesac25597
Citation Gendall, J. PACE 2020 Discovery Drilling 2012 : Year 7 Drilling Partnership no. DPY7-12 - Doray Minerals Limited Nuckulla Hill Project. Bimba prospect, EL 4302, drilling project final report. Mineral Company Report - Mineral Exploration
https://pid.sarig.sa.gov.au/document/mesac25597

Technical information

Status
Maintenance and Update Frequency
Geographic Reference GDA2020 (EPSG:7844)
Geo bounding box {"type":"Polygon","coordinates":[[[134.5,-32],[135,-32],[135,-31.5],[134.5,-31.5],[134.5,-32]]]}
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