Summary:
Tennant Creek Project comprises the Orlando and the Gecko/Goanna deposits.
Orlando
The Orlando project, located in the Tennant Creek Mineral Field of the Paleoproterozoic Warramunga Formation, features a structurally complex geology shaped by intense tectonic activity during the Barramundi Orogeny. This deformation facilitated hydrothermal fluid interaction, resulting in significant gold, copper, and bismuth mineralisation. The Orlando orebody, a conformable, pipe-like structure within a shear zone, hosts multiple mineralisation phases, the most notable involving chlorite, magnetite, chalcopyrite, pyrite, bismuthite, and gold. Local geology includes ironstones, siltstones, shales, and minor intrusions, with sericitisation, chloritisation, and silicification prominent near ironstone. Oxidation, extending to 120 metres, produces a hematite-goethite-quartz-clay assemblage.
The mineralisation style is an iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG) system, characterised by iron-rich hydrothermal fluids depositing minerals within structurally controlled traps like shear zones. Mineralisation occurs in pipe-like, brecciated ironstone bodies, predominantly in two steeply south-dipping, east-west striking lenses within structural flexures of the folded Warramunga Formation. These lenses contain stacked and continuous mineralised domains hosting gold and copper, with elevated arsenic, cobalt, and bismuth levels. Chalcopyrite is the primary copper mineral, with oxidation in the weathered horizon producing secondary minerals like malachite, chalcocite, and covellite.
The Orlando deposit displays a deep weathering profile of up to 70m below surface which is typical of the Cu/Au deposit style of the Tennant Creek Mineral field. The weathering profile is divided into three zones, oxide transitional and fresh to reflect the differences in copper mineralogy and in turn metallurgical behavior.
Dimensions
• The Orlando deposit strike length is approximately 850m east/west.
• The mineralisation consists of a series of stacked, steeply dipping lodes, averaging a combined width in plan of approximately 160m.
• The lodes have a variable thickness. They pinch and swell and narrow with depth. They extend from near surface to a maximum depth of approximately 320m.
• Copper lodes vary in thickness from approximately 2-20m.
• Gold lodes vary in thickness from approximately 2-15m.
Gecko
The Gecko project is located within the Tennant Creek Mineral Field (TCMF) of the Paleoproterozoic Warramunga Formation, a deformed sequence of siltstone, sandstone, and shale intruded by granites and felsic porphyries. Intense folding and faulting during the Barramundi Orogeny produced east-west trending folds, axial planar cleavage, and extensive shear faulting, creating structural complexity that facilitated hydrothermal fluid flow.
The Gecko Resource sits approximately 4km NW of the Orlando Resource.
The project area is largely covered by Quaternary sands, gravels, and colluvial fan deposits, with limited Warramunga Formation outcrop on ridges. Host rocks comprise shales, siltstones, and greywackes with interspersed hematite-rich shale units. The local stratigraphy consists of multiple sedimentary units, from hematitic argillite at the base through greywacke, argillite, breccia conglomerate, hematite shales, and sandstones to an upper greywacke sequence.
The Gecko deposit is an iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG) system with structurally controlled mineralisation hosted in sheared ironstone within regional shear zones. Copper-gold mineralisation occurs as small to medium lenses, with chalcopyrite as the primary copper mineral and secondary malachite, chalcocite, and covellite from oxidation. Mineralisation is commonly accompanied by elevated arsenic, cobalt, and bismuth. Historic drilling of magnetic anomalies first identified Cu-Au-Bi-Co mineralisation associated with ironstone bodies, and subsequent underground development revealed additional smaller peripheral lenses. Gecko has historically produced copper but remains prospective for gold.
Dimensions
• The combined Gecko deposit strike length is approximately 2.5km at 110°, however is not continuous along the entire length as the mineralisation comprises 12 distinct prospect areas.
• Mineralisation occurs as stacked, steeply dipping lodes across these 12 areas, with combined plan widths of ~50–300 m.
• The lodes have a variable thickness. They pinch, swell and bifurcate. They extend from ~50 m below surface (~300 m RL at Monitor) to 600 m depth (-260 m RL at Anomaly 1).
• Copper lodes vary in thickness from approximately 1-35m and are more continuous and show better consistency. The gold lodes are approximately 1-15m in thickness that are discontinuous and poddy.