Lachlan Fold Belt Projects
Sultan acquired 100% of the issued shares in Colossus Metals Pty Ltd (Colossus) in March 2020. Colossus holds a suite of gold and copper exploration tenements located in Central New South Wales. Sultan considers the Lachlan Fold Belt tenements to be highly prospective exploration assets which will expand the existing project portfolio.
Location Map – Colossus Tenements over the prospective Macquarie Arc sequence
Recent High-grade results include:
- 24.6g/t Au & 26.1% Cu
- 2.69g/t Au & 7.55% Cu
- 1.16g/t Au & 12.55% Cu
- 0.51g/t Au & 4.49% Cu
- 0.94g/t Au & 5.71% Cu
Example of native Cu in epidote altered feldspar porphyry from Big Hill (left) and High Grade Cu and Au from malachite veined gossanous mullock at Gowan Green (right).
Project Overview
The Projects comprise granted exploration licences EL8734, EL8704 and EL8735, which together cover a total area of approximately 330 km2 and are considered highly prospective for both:
- gold-rich, alkali, gold-copper porphyry (Cadia-style) mineralisation and;
- paleo-placer gold mineralization
EL8735 – Star Plateau
Exploration licence EL8735 “Star Plateau” is a 108km2 ground holding encapsulating segments of the highly prospective Late Ordovician – Early Silurian Northern Molong Volcanic Belt which is considered prospective for porphyry Au-Cu-Mo, epithermal gold, gold-rich VMS and orogenic gold deposits. To the north of EL8735, the Molong Volcanic Belt hosts Alkane Resources’ recent Boda porphyry Cu-Au discovery (689m @ 0.46g/t Au and 0.19% Cu – see ALK ASX Announcement 13/02/2020) and Newcrest Mining’s world-class Cadia-Ridgeway mine lies within the belt some 50km to the south.
Of particular interest within the Star Plateau Project is the Big Hill Magnetic Complex (Figures 2 to 3) which is a large scale (5.0km x 2.5km), ovoid shaped, high amplitude magnetic high complex interpreted to represent a buried Late Ordovician – Early Silurian intrusive complex. Magnetite – hematite veins and epidote – carbonate – malachite veins typically hosted in feldspar porphyry are observed above the magnetic high anomaly. Historic workings at the prospect display outcropping secondary copper mineralisation including malachite, azurite, chrysocolla and chalcocite. Geological mapping by Colossus has revealed hydrothermal alteration styles consistent with Cadia/Boda style alkaline porphyry mineralisation such as phyllic and propylitic assemblages and localized zones of disseminated pyrite +/- chalcopyrite. No historic drilling has been recorded on the Big Hill target. EL8735 also contains the Ringaroo Prospect which is considered to be a high-quality porphyry Cu-Au target.
Panoramic views at the Big Hill prospect, with Boda (Alkane Resources NL) in the north, and Cadia Ridgeway (Newcrest) to the south.
EL8704 – Ophir
EL8704 covers extensive tertiary deep-lead gold occurrences along the Macquarie River valley. The project tenement extends 50km north from Ophir, the site of first gold discovery in Australia. Due to ‘inverted-stratigraphy’, the largest deep-lead deposits are preserved as basalt topped mesas, marking the position of the palaeo-drainage. The deep-lead deposits are recorded to include minor to large scale tunnelling operations beneath Tertiary basalts. Similar deposits in the Gulgong area yielded between 17-30 tonnes of gold (NSW Geological Survey).
These deep-leads have never been subject to systematic modern exploration.
The licence also includes the significant Hansell Hill alluvial field, where a unique outlier of gold-bearing Permian conglomerates has previously been mined (1895-1935). These conglomerates appear to have also fed large scale modern alluvial gold fields. The most recent modern exploration (Sunshine Exploration – 1985, BHP – 1970’s) on the licence has confirmed the gold bearing conglomerates in limited exploration drilling.
EL8704 – Tenement Location and historic gold workings
EL8734 – Tucklan
Exploration licence EL8734 “Tucklan” is located approximately 50kms northeast of Alkane Resources’ Boda discovery and is hosted in the late Ordovician Tucklan Formation & Silurian Dungeree Volcanics of the Macquarie Arc Rockley-Gulgong Belt (Figure 1). The Tucklan Formation hosts interpreted porphyry Cu-Au-Mo deposits just ~5km to the south east of EL8734 within the regionally significant Mudgee fault corridor. Very little modern porphyry exploration has been undertaken on EL8734, representing a significant exploration opportunity.