- Western Australia, Australia
- Copper
- Nickel
- Gold
The Spur Project (EL5238) is located 5km west from Newmont Corporation’s Cadia Valley Project (>50Moz Au, 9.5Mt Cu1), and is hosted in equivalent Late Ordovician aged geology of the Molong Belt within the wider Macquarie Arc.
TARGETING RATIONALE
The Spur Project encompasses the wider Cargo gold-copper porphyry district, where much of the historical exploration focus has been within the main Cargo Intrusive Complex for ‘intrusion-hosted’ porphyry-style copper-gold mineralisation.
Figure 4: Exploration Model for wallrock alkalic epithermal-porphyry mineralisation (Wallrock Cadia East/Ridgeway-style porphyry, alkalic Cowal-style epithermal) modified from Harris et al 2020, vertical setting/preservation of East Lachlan systems (Cooke et al 2007)
Waratah’s exploration strategy of targeting the margins of the main early-stage intrusive complex for wallrock-style epithermal-porphyry mineralisation, is supported by the importance of this setting at several major deposits in the Macquarie Arc, e.g. Cadia (>50Moz Au & 9.5Mt Cu1), Cowal (9.6Moz Au, Evolution 2023) and Boda (6.4Moz Au & 1Mt Cu, Alkane 2023).
The equivalent position at the margin of and outside the main Cargo Intrusive Complex is therefore a key exploration criteria, and marks a zone characterised by widespread epithermal sulphide stringer/lode mineralisation and porphyry alteration, including 86m @ 1.56g/t Au, 536ppm Cu (SD010, ASX WTM 17 October 2023).
Waratah’s exploration model and targeting strategy is also guided by an interpretation that the epithermal sulphide stringers represent the upper levels of a broader porphyry system as evident at several major East Lachlan deposits e.g. Cowal (9.6Moz Au, Evolution 2023) and Boda (ASX ALK 15 August 2017, 6.4Moz Au/1Mt Cu). There appears to be increasing evidence for this link at the Spur Project, given the recent identification of early-stage K-feldspar + albite + tourmaline (alkalic lithocap), pervasive albite-silica-hematite (Inner-propylitic) and skarn porphyry alteration associated with gold-copper mineralisation, overprinted by a later stage epithermal gold event (ASX WTM 10 April 2024, Figure 5).
Indeed the epithermal sulphide stringer/lode mineralisation can represent a compelling target in its own right, as demonstrated by the resources and mining operations at Cowal – 305Mt @ 0.98g/t Au (9.6Moz, Evolution 2023), Brucejack – 22.5Mt @ 10g/t Au, 67.5g/t Ag (7.2Moz Au, 48.8Moz Ag, Newcrest 2021) and Fruta del Norte – 18Mt @ 8.68g/t Au, 11.4g/t Ag (5Moz Au, 6.6Moz Ag, Lundin Gold 2022).
Figure 5: Spur Project, total metal endowment from Phillips 2017, Newmont 2023, CMOC 2023, Evolution 2023, Alkane 2023, Regis 2023