Kalamazoo Resources applies for Myrtle exploration licence within Victoria’s gold-rich Bendigo Zone
Kalamazoo has applied for new exploration ground near Kirkland Lake Gold’s world-class Fosterville gold mine.
Junior explorer Kalamazoo Resources (ASX: KZR) has lodged an exploration licence application for land comprising the Myrtle gold project, located within the highly-endowed Bendigo Zone of the central Victorian goldfields.
The licence area covers 44sq km of highly-prospective goldfields geology and will increase Kalamazoo’s exploration tenure in the Bendigo Zone region to approximately 515sq km.
It is strategically located 30km south of Kirkland Lake Gold’s (ASX: KLA) world-class Fosterville gold mine and along the southern border of the North Central Victorian Goldfields tender block 4, which Kalamazoo applied for in February and is scheduled to be awarded by the Victorian government this month.
Block 4 is 20km from Kalamazoo’s historic Castlemaine project and is considered highly prospective for gold, given its proximity and similar geology to Fosterville and other regional discoveries.
Castlemaine was acquired in 2018 and comprises three tenures at Wattle Gully (over approximately 70sq km), Wattle Gully South (218sq km) and Queens (22sq km).
Queens was added to the stable in July and includes parts of the historic Drummond and Belltopper Hill goldfields, which have proven high-grade gold mineralisation and numerous historical mine workings.
Exploration strategy
Kalamazoo chairman and chief executive officer Luke Reinehr said the Myrtle application was in line with a strategy of acquiring Victorian exploration projects with a target threshold of 1 million ounces gold at grades of more than 10 grams per tonne.
“We have long been a believer of the high value that can be attributed to the Victorian goldfields [and] we are strategically growing our position in this prospective region, very much aware of the inherent value a major gold discovery can unlock,” he said.
“The Myrtle project will be a great addition to Castlemaine and [its location] just 30km from Fosterville [helps] builds on this strategy.”
Myrtle location
Myrtle is situated within the favourable hanging-wall position of the major regional Axe Creek Fault and is considered highly-prospective for high-grade, Fosterville-style mineralisation.
Although surrounded by several major goldfields, the project is considered under-explored as it has not been subjected to systematic modern exploration and there are no known historical drilling records.
Bendigo production
The Bendigo Zone is believed to have yielded in excess of 60 million ounces of gold from alluvial and continuous quartz reef mining activity from 1853 to 1954.
From within this zone, the Bendigo goldfield produced an estimated 22Moz primarily from quartz reef mining, while the Ballarat goldfield was the second largest with an estimated 10Moz of production, followed by Castlemaine with 5.6Moz.