Golden Deeps to target gold-silver-copper at Havilah project on Lachlan Belt
Golden Deeps aims to raise a minimum of $1.5 million to test geophysical and geochemical anomalies at its newly acquired NSW projects.
Golden Deeps (ASX: GED) has identified a 3km-long mineralised trend within its Havilah project located on the hotly sought-after Lachlan Fold Belt of New South Wales.
The Havilah project adjoins the Bowdens silver deposit, now being advanced by Silver Mines (ASX: SVL), and Freeport-McMoRan’s gold-copper porphyry project.
The newly identified trend runs into Silver Mines’ ground and has generated targets prospective for gold, silver and copper.
Silver Mines claims Bowdens is the largest undeveloped silver deposit in Australia. It has a mineral resource of 128 million tonnes at 40 grams per tonne silver, 0.38% zinc and 0.26% lead.
Previous exploration at Havilah was conducted in the 1970s but samples were assayed only for base metals, but for neither gold nor silver.
Golden Deeps expects the previously identified copper mineralisation will be associated with gold.
The company’s ground also includes the historic Cheshire copper mine, which at 908m above sea level is one of the highest mines ever developed in NSW, and the Milfor prospect, 1.4km from Cheshire at which there are historic copper workings.
In 1973, the former Mt Hope Minerals drilled 20 shallow percussion holes at Cheshire returning grades for zinc and copper — but the holes were never assayed for gold or silver.
The Cheshire copper mine comprises several shafts, workings and an old brick kiln. At the Milfor prospect to the south, there is a group of workings that have exploited disseminated and veined copper mineralisation in andesite.
Soil sampling will identify drill targets
Havilah was one of two projects Golden Deeps acquired in May, the other being the Tuckers Hill gold ground which adjoins another historic mining camp, Hill End. Both are located near the town of Mudgee, NSW.
In its next step at Havilah, Golden Deeps will conduct soil sampling along the magnetic anomaly and at Milfor and Cheshire to confirm targets for drill testing.
The 3km trend was identified by reprocessing and reimaging earlier aeromagnetic data.
The trend is in prospective Ordovician volcanic sequence that runs north-south passing through the Milfor prospect and the Cheshire mine and then continues into the southern end of Bowdens.
Geophysical and geochemical targets remain untested along the company’s part of the trend.
During the June quarter, Golden Deeps also continued discussions on the Abenab vanadium-lead-zinc project in Namibia with China’s Dalian Bolong New Materials, one of the world’s largest vanadium refiners.