Venturex Resources uncovers gold anomalies associated with conglomerate at Whim Creek in Pilbara
Venturex Resources (ASX: VXR) has identified gold anomalies associated with conglomerate-style mineralisation at its Whim Creek project where it is exploring for copper and zinc in the Western Australian Pilbara.
Whim Creek is about 115km west of Port Hedland and due to its proximity to other conglomerate gold finds in the region, Venturex conducted a review of exploration data from previous project owners and the Geological Survey of Western Australia.
The conglomerate gold anomalies were pinpointed within a 5km by 0.6km area at the project’s Mays Find prospect.
Venturex recently carried out field exploration at the prospect, which supported the historical data.
A previous project owner Straits Resources collected a host of samples in 2007 while exploring for base metals. The samples were analysed for various mineralisation and returned 52 parts per billion of gold. However, the gold mineralisation was never followed up.
Additionally, as part of its review of historical data, Venturex found 57 rock chip samples that were taken from Mays Find in 2014 but had not been analysed for gold. The samples have been sent to laboratories to be reanalysed for the precious metal.
Future exploration targets at Mays Find will be based upon the results of these assays.
However, Venturex anticipates exploration will involve detailed conglomerate mapping and infill soil and rock sampling across the Mays Find area.
As well as the conglomerate, Venturex has identified fine gold particles when panning sediments from the creek where another previous explorer Duval reportedly found gold in 1984. Duval did not pursue the gold’s origins, but Venturex theorises it may have come from the Lower Fortescue conglomerate in the project area.
Pilbara conglomerate gold rush
In recent months, Western Australia’s Pilbara has become a hot spot for gold investors, with explorers and miners alike pegging any available land in the region.
The reason behind the rush is the conglomerate-style gold’s similarities to the world’s largest known gold fields in South Africa’s Witwatersrand Basin.
It was discovered more than a century ago and has produced more than 2 billion ounces of gold grading 15 grams per tonne, with more to come.
Canadian-listed Novo Resources (TSXV: NVO) and Western Australian-based Artemis Resources (ASX: ARV) were the first pair to spark the current gold rush in the Pilbara with numerous gold nuggets discovered at the joint venture’s Purdy’s Reward project about 45km south of Karratha.
Several other explorers have since reported similar discoveries in the area including Artemis at its other wholly-owned tenements and De Grey Mining (ASX: DEG).