Artemis Resources has called on Australia’s peak science body CSIRO to investigate the origin of conglomerate hosted gold in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.
Artemis and Canadian joint venture partner Novo Resources famously kicked off the Pilbara gold nugget rush in July 2017 when they discovered “watermelon-seed” shaped gold nuggets found at or close to surface over extensive strike lengths at the Purdy’s Reward project south of Karratha.
Artemis’s Executive Director and head of exploration Ed Mead said it was important to engage with independent leading industry specialists to seek a deeper understanding as to why the gold exists in the conglomerates south of Karratha and how these unique “watermelon” seed nuggets were formed.
Artemis has a significant land holding in the area and we are actively seeking to understand the genesis of this unusual type of gold,” he said.
“Gaining a better understanding of these key questions will enable refinement of our exploration and evaluation methods going forward.”
The CSIRO study will focus on answering key questions regarding the location and origin of the gold deposits including:
- Which lithology/lithologies host the gold deposits?
- What is the sedimentological setting of these units?
- What is the relationship between host units, gold mineralisation and igneous intrusions/extrusives?
- What is the background mineralogy and geochemistry of the host rocks?
- What is the alteration mineralogy associated with gold mineralisation?
- What evidence is there of high temperature vs low temperature microstructures in the gold?
Artemis hopes addressing these questions will hopefully provide a better understanding of the geological background for the gold mineralisation and also tackle the formation mechanism of the gold nuggets.
Artemis have chosen to initially focus on the ‘47 Patch’ area located 5km from the Radio Hill processing plant, with further research to expand into the Mt OscarWits area. The existing work at Purdy’s Reward will also be incorporated into the research as further information becomes available.
The study will initially focus on the ‘47 Patch’ area located 5km from the Radio Hill processing plant, with further research to expand into the Mt OscarWits area.
The existing work at Purdy’s Reward will also be incorporated into the research as further information becomes available.
Shares in Artemis were trading at 17c on Monday afternoon.
