Overview of Projects
The projects currently in Truscott's portfolio are located close to Tennant Creek, Northern Territory and at Eastern Creek, Western Australia (Figure 1). They were acquired based on regional structural analysis and evaluation of historical major mines and mineral occurrences. The Directors consider these projects to be highly prospective for iron oxide copper gold (IOCG) and gold systems.
Figure 1: Project Location Plan
Tennant Creek Projects
Ewan Edward (EL23897, EL25497, EL25577, ELA26221), Westminster (MLC511, A25952), Arcadia (MLC621, MLC622) and Gosse River (EL25374)
projects (Figure 2) are all close to the regional gold mining centre of Tennant Creek, in the Northern Territory. Over 5.5 million ounces of gold has been produced from this area, at a very high average recovered grade of 19g/t Au, together with significant copper, bismuth and silver.
Figure 2: Tennant Creek Projects and Geology
Tennant Creek Geology
Almost all known gold, copper and bismuth mineralisation in the Tennant Creek Goldfield is hosted by massive hematite and magnetite ironstones within the Palaeoproterozoic Warramunga Formation, a coarsening-upwards sequence of silty to sandy turbiditic flysch sediments at the base of the inlier sequence. Sheared quartz porphyry intrusives are often locally present.
The massive ironstones within the Warramunga Formation are discordant to occasionally stratabound and are generally accepted to be of replacement origin. Previous research has indicated that these pods and pipe-like bodies were formed during deformation as an oxide phase when haematitic iron oxides were remobilised from sediments and magmatic intrusives by moderately saline connate brines. The ironstone bodies then formed where iron oxide-rich fluids were concentrated in favourable dilatational structural and stratigraphic traps, after migrating along cleavage planes and shear zones. They are typically located in structural flexures near hinge zones of the main east-northeasterly trending fold axes (Figure 3).
Figure 3: Conceptual View of Ironstone Pod Gold Mineralisation
Exploration Summary
Truscott's Tennant Creek field base is fully operational and exploration programmes are underway. Initial exploration has shown geophysical targets in potentially favourable structural settings associated with the Tennant Creek mineral field (Ewan Edward) and the presence of major alteration systems with high grade gold mineralisation (Westminster).
RC and diamond drilling programmes for Westminster and Ewan Edward are planned to commence in the December 2007 quarter.
Eastern Creek Project
Truscott's Eastern Creek project is in the East Pilbara region of Western Australia, about 50 kilometres north east from the old gold mining town of Nullagine. Significant amounts of gold at high grades have also been produced from this mining centre.
Eastern Creek Geology
Geologically, Eastern Creek covers mainly structurally complex and hydrothermally altered Archaean rocks of the McPhee-Elsie greenstone belt and sediments of the Mosquito Creek Formation, both unconformably overlain by younger Archaean rocks of the Mount Bruce Supergroup (Figure 4).
Figure 4: Eastern Creek Geology
Exploration Summary
Soil sampling programmes have confirmed and extended the existing gold ± arsenic ± antimony (Au ± As ± Sb) anomalies at Eastern Creek project, WA. Truscott is encouraged that these geochemical anomalies are similar in tenor to those found on advanced prospects of other explorers within the Mosquito Creek basin. Work will continue to define priority drill targets at Eastern Creek.
Project Links:
Ewan Edward - NT
Westminster - NT
Arcadia - NT
Gosse River East - NT
Eastern Creek - WA