Summary:
Centenary, Oval, Lords Felsics, Lords South Lower and Pedersen are part of the Darlot Gold Mine.
The Centenary, Oval, Lords Felsics, Lords South Lower and Pedersen lodes are part of an Archean hydrothermal fault-vein deposit. Felsic porphyries and lamprophyre intrusions are encountered throughout the deposit. The major host for gold mineralisation is the Mount Pickering Dolerite.
Centenary
• The Centenary Deposit is sub-divided into twenty-five (25) mineralised domains with the steeper fault hosted domains such as Walters, Lords and Oval areas separated from the flatter wing vein hosted mineralisation such as the Grace-Marsh bulk and Boon North areas. There are also shallowly dipping domains such as the Benaud’s Link.
Pedersen
• The Pedersen Gold mineralisation is associated mainly with the Darlot Thrust and associated quartz veins and alteration haloes. Mineralisation is hosted by magnetic dolerite and magnetic quartz (porphyritic) dolerite rock types and, to a lesser extent, by non-magnetic dolerite and felsic volcanosedimentary rock types. Lamprophyre intrusions are present in the area with a variety of orientations. In most cases the lamprophyres are an un-favourable host rock for mineralisation and in most cases are barren.
• The Darlot Thrust and associated major quartz bearing structures typically dip at around 20° to the SE, with associated hanging-wall veins that dip between 0° and 20° to NW.
• The Pedersen Deposit is sub-divided into fifteen (15) mineralised domains.
Oval
• The Oval Deposit is sub-divided into six (6) mineralised domains with the steeper oval, oval foot-wall splays, Twelfth man and Burswood fault hosted domains separated from the flatter wing vein hosted mineralisation such as the hanging-wall and foot-wall lode areas, and the recently identified gently dipping Eldorado lodes, which sit between the Oval and the Eldorado Faults.
• The hanging-wall and foot-wall veins associated with the Oval mineralisation typically dip to the NW between ~5° and 25° with the Main Oval structure dipping at around 45° to the NW. The Twelfth man and Burswood fault structures which are similar to the Oval and dip at ~70° to the NW.
Lords Felsics & Lords South Lower (LSL)
• The Lords Felsics Deposit is sub-divided into eleven mineralised domains, with the steeper Lords and Newlands fault hosted domains separated from the flatter wing vein hosted mineralisation such as the hanging-wall and foot-wall lode areas.
• The LSL Deposit is sub-divided into three mineralised domains with the steeper fault hosted domains such as Walters, Lords and SRCG areas separated from the flatter wing vein hosted mineralisation such as the hanging-wall and foot-wall flat lodes.
Dimensions
• The Centenary deposit has an overall strike length of about 1.3km and a width of about 0.5km and extends from about 150m to 700m below the natural surface.
• The Pedersen deposit has an overall strike length of about 1,500m and a width of about 850 m and extends from just below the natural surface to a depth of about 450 m.
• The Oval deposit has an overall strike length of about 600 m and a width of about 600 m and extends from about 470m to 1,200 m below the natural surface.
• The Lords Felsics deposit has an overall strike length of about 1.75km and a width of about 900 m and extends from about 660m to 1,460 m below the natural surface.
• The Lords South Lower (LSL) deposit has an overall strike length of about 900 m and a width of about 600 m and extends from about 700m to 960m below the natural surface.
St George, Waikato, Waikato South, Mission & Cable, & Cornucopia North are mature deposits within Darlot mining operations (Darlot Open Pit Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve).
St George
• The St George gold mineralisation is located about the Oval and Burswood Faults and is associated with quartz veins and alteration haloes. Mineralisation is hosted by dolerite and, to a lesser extent, by magnetic dolerite and felsic volcano-sedimentary rock types. Lamprophyre intrusions are present in the area with a variety of orientations. Mineralisation is presumed to be analogous with the Centenary mineralisation and hence has similar characteristics.
• The St George South Deposit is sub-divided into six (6) mineralised domains with all lodes plunging gently at around 30° to the Northwest, with the bounding Oval and Burswood Faults dipping at 50° NW with supergene enrichment observed.
Waikato and Waikato South
• In the Waikato area, the mineralisation crosses lithological boundaries and is present in the mixed basalt, dolerite and felsic porphyry (MD and FAP) domains and within the porphyritic dolerite.
• The Waikato gold mineralisation is located about the Waikato Thrust and is associated with quartz veins and alteration haloes. Mineralisation is hosted by magnetic dolerite and magnetic quartz (porphyritic) dolerite rock types and, to a lesser extent, by non-magnetic dolerite and felsic volcanosedimentary rock types. Lamprophyre intrusions are present in the area with a variety of orientations. In most cases the lamprophyres are thought to be pre-mineralisation but are an un-favorable host rock for mineralisation and in most cases are barren. Mineralisation is presumed to be analogous with the Darlot/Pedersen mineralisation and hence has similar characteristics.
• The Waikato Deposit is sub-divided into two mineralised domains, weathering and structure, with all lodes plunging gently at around 14° to the Northwest with little to no supergene enrichment observed. The Oxide zone lodes are assumed to be weathered analogues of the main lode which are exhibiting a primary trend like the fresh rock lodes.
Mission and Cable
• The Mission and Cable (MICA) lodes are part of an Archean hydrothermal fault-vein deposit hosted in the main by sheared (magnetic) fractionated dolerite and felsic volcanic units with similarities to the Mount Pickering dolerite sill (The Darlot-Centenary deposits host). The Mission lodes strike north south and dip relatively steeply to the west on the interpreted eastern limb of a synform, with a few shallower linking structures also dipping west. The Cable lodes include several NNW striking and steeply westerly dipping mineralised shears with several shallower SSE dipping linking structures and six flattish supergene lodes, which sit on the western limb of the same synform.
• The Mission and Cable gold mineralisation is associated with a series of sub-metre to metre scale wide laminated quartz veins which crosscut the shear planes with silica-sericite-chlorite-epidotepyrrhotite+/-pyrite altered margins of varying alteration intensity. Pyrite and pyrrhotite are rarely observed above 5%. Some remobilized gold mineralisation has also been observed mainly in ferruginous saprock.
• The Mission and Cable Deposits are sub-divided into twenty-two (22) and thirty-three (33) mineralised domains respectively, with all lodes dipping steeply to sub-vertically to the with little to no supergene enrichment observed. The Oxide zone lodes are assumed to be weathered analogues of the main lode which are exhibiting a primary trend like the fresh rock lodes. Some supergene mineralisation has been modelled at Cable.
Cornucopia North
• The Cornucopia North gold mineralisation is interpreted to be hosted in transported alluvial grit containing mineralised quartz fragments siting within a scour feature at the confluence of NW and NE trending paleo-channels. It is in essence a paleo-placer deposit.
• The Cornucopia North Deposit is sub-divided into eleven (11) mineralised domains, weathering and structure, with all lodes plunging gently to the Northwest with little to no supergene enrichment observed. The Oxide zone lodes are assumed to be weathered paleo-channels. Two small vein hosted lodes have been interpreted in the fresh rock domain.