Yandal Resources Ltd (ASX: YRL) has acquired the rights to a key tenement that covers a significant interpreted structure extending south from the Gordons Project towards Kanowna Belle in Western Australia.
The tenement was acquired following the initial results (Phase 1) of a three-dimensional geological modelling and targeting exercise over the entire Gordons Project designed to determine the structural and stratigraphic controls on mineralisation.
Though this work is ongoing, the outcomes and findings from the Phase 1 interpretation are as follows:
- The delineation of the Gordon-Sirdar Shear Zone and associated splays (GSSZ), which extend through the Gordons Project tenure and are coincident with the Star of Gordon prospect.
- Recognition that the GSSZ is associated with a steepening of the eastern margin of the main Scotia-Kanowna Granite Dome. This geometry provides opportunities for enhanced fluid permeability and strain partitioning making it an ideal location for targeting larger-scale gold mineralisation.
- The identification of a keel of mixed greenstones interpreted to be similar to the Kanowna Belle lithologies extending south of the Gordons Project (and within the recently acquired lease).
- The GSSZ shear zone near the Star of Gordon prospect area remains a high-priority target. Further exploration will test the potential for plunging targets at depth.
The Gordons Project contains multiple prospects that have returned very good results from initial exploration including Gordon Star (e.g., 10m @ 8.4g/t Au and 8m @ 4.7g/t Au) (1). The challenge until now has been to prioritise and rank these prospects,” Managing Director, Tim Kennedy, said.
“The recently completed interpretation and targeting work undertaken by Ben McCormack has enabled us to refocus our efforts on those parts of the project with the highest potential for significant discovery. Importantly, it has highlighted an area immediately south of the project with all of the geological ingredients for a significant discovery that has yet to be explored in detail.
“Yandal has secured this key area through the recent tenement acquisition from Moho Resources. We are very much looking forward to commencing exploration in the area following tenement grant.”
Yandal has entered into an agreement to acquire E27/701 which covers the interpreted southern extension of the GSSZ and mixed greenstone sequence similar to that hosting the Kanowna Belle Deposit.
The area within E27/701 despite being very close to Kalgoorlie and within the same structural regime as Kanowna Belle, has been subject to very little past exploration. This is most likely due to the intermittent presence of salt lakes across the area of interest, which has hampered previous exploration attempts. In recent times, several examples of successful exploration across salt lakes In Western Australia have resulted in significant discoveries.
The company regards this as an excellent opportunity to explore an area in an exceptional geological setting for the discovery of significant gold deposits near the major mining centre of Kalgoorlie.
Phase 2 of the three-dimensional geological modelling and target generation over the Gordons Project will comprise the collection of detailed geological information over the most prospective part of the GSSZ north and south of, and including, the Star of Gordon Prospect. This area sits within a complex part of the geological architecture with steeply dipping lithology about broadly synformal fold hinges intersected by major shear zones. Despite a reasonable amount of drilling, resolving the complex prospect/deposit scale geological architecture from existing data is not possible.
A comprehensive programme of portable XRF (pXRF) analysis of core and RC chips along with select fences of drilling, in addition to surface mapping will be undertaken. The aim of this is to geochemically categorise lithologies in the Star of Gordon area as well as map the extent of alteration associated with gold mineralisation. Modelling the geology from this data is intended to identify target positions beneath or within existing drilling for further drill testing.
