The Redcastle Project is gold focused; the holding consists of one (1) Prospecting Licence and two (2) Mining Leases, of which one is under application, covering a small but prospective area of 358ha. The Project is located in the vicinity of the Redcastle Mining Centre within the Murrin Murrin District of the Mt Margaret Mineral Field of WA approximately 64km east of Leonora and 60km west of Laverton in the North Eastern Goldfields.

Gold was originally discovered at the Redcastle Mining Centre, some 3km west of the holding in 1895, with recorded reef production to 1952 of 2,911t yielding 2,261 ounces (24.54 g/t Au) at the local battery. Since that time, it is estimated that thousands of ounces have been removed by prospectors who have found “easy” alluvial gold at Redcastle.

 

The Redcastle Project covers a NW trending sequence of Archaean tholeiitic mafic volcanics, dolerites and gabbros which are intruded by tonalite and strongly deformed dacite porphyry intrusions. The area is structurally complex hosting the axis of the regionally north-south trending Redcastle Anticline and a series of EW and WNW thrusts and faults with associated quartz veining and quartz stockworks that host the majority of gold mineralisation in the region. A complex series of folds and shear zones have developed in the area which disrupt and repeat the stratigraphic distribution of the rock units. The majority of the area has been overlain by lateritic crusts and post lateritic paleo-channel sediments. Gold mineralisation is usually associated with shear zones and quartz veining. eg. Redcastle Reef.

 

Gold targets are located within highly altered and sheared mafic rocks that have been intruded by small ovoid granites and porphyries. Several significant historical drill intersections that have not been followed up and present as immediate drill target areas.

 

Numerous, spectacular alluvial gold nuggets have been discovered by metal detecting prospectors within and around the tenement holding over the last 40 years. The hard rock source and their origin remains unknown. Gold recovery from metal detected nuggets in the Redcastle area (1970-2005) is estimated to be in excess of 3,000oz.

 

At Laterite Ridge, immediately NE of the Florence workings (MLA39/1119) gold typically occurs as coarse nuggets (0.1 grams Au to an impressive 41 oz piece) within the reworked cemented pisolitic to nodular laterite profile. The estimated gold recovered from Laterite Ridge in recent years is >500 oz Au from scraping, detecting and dry blowing. Nuggets have been detected from surface to depths of 1.5m. Gold mineralisation is interpreted to relate to a reworked paleo-alluvial system. The bedrock source of the alluvial gold is not known however the presence of bedrock gold occurrences at Florence, and further afield in the Redcastle area are most likely contributors. In 1989 prospector Luke Gardiner detected +200oz in gold nuggets over a two-week period on the Lateritic Ridge (MLA39/1119) including a 15oz example on the southern side of the ridge. Since that time other prospectors have also experienced high yield gold returns from detecting the Lateritic Ridge/Florence areas. Nuggets have also been sourced from M37/1108 including a 100oz piece detected on the small ML by Tony Faull in the early 2000’s (M37/1108).

The project area is immediately north of the 7.5km long, east-west trending mineralised Redcastle Reef. A corridor that historically produced high grade ore shoots with old workings that range in grade from 20 g/t to 40 g/t Au. The eastern end of the reef truncates MLA39/1119. The tenement contains the small Florence workings, covering 50m of strike, which is positioned immediately south of an extensive dry blowing and alluvial patch. Rock chip grab sampling of laminated quartz veining returned peak values of 5.42 g/t, 6.15 g/t (Florence shaft) and 2.18 g/t Au from areas in and around the Florence workings. Exploration is focusing on the delineation of structures sub-parallel to the Redcastle Reef that could potentially be concealed beneath the weathered regolith.

Rock chip sampling of quartz veining at the nearby Bellbird workings, with past production figures of 51t for 12.39oz (1899) on P39/6128 returned values of 4.64 g/t Au and 2.69 g/t Au. The tholeiitic basalt/dolerite contact extends SE from Bellbird through to White Shaft (P39/5267) which when sampled returned rock chip results of up to 2.02 g/t Au.

A secondary target, the small Eveleigh Au-Cu working is NE of P37/5267 includes strike extensions of the workings and the nearby alluvial patch which may extend SW into the Kin holding.

RAB drilling on P39/5267 by Terrain Minerals (2008) in the vicinity of the White Shaft workings intersected a 3m wide quartz vein in unaltered mafic rocks beneath some historical dry blowing’s that returned a best intercept of:

  • 2m @ 15.3 g/t Au (20-22m) in RR205

The intersection was not followed up. The drill program was confined to shallow weathered regolith drilling (blade refusal) with the strike and depth potential remaining unknown. The zone surrounding this intersection present as an immediate drill target. Areas surrounding this intersection have returned anomalous results over a strike of 460m to a maximum drill depth of 44m. The mineralisation is on or near a dolerite/basalt contact that’s sub parallel to the gabbro contact 700m further to the NE, the area presents as an immediate drill target.

Redcastle tenements showing regional outcrop geology, detecting patched and gold targeting

The majority of mineralised zones in the Redcastle area are open along strike and at depth, they have not been tested beneath the zone of weathering and oxidation, 40-50m (vertical depth). The Redcastle Reef and associated sub-parallel structures are the most obvious target zones.

The source of the alluvial gold on the eastern side of MLA37/1119 remains unknown however the mineralisation on site could be sitting directly above an as yet undiscovered sub-parallel reef, related to the Redcastle Reef, that’s concealed beneath the regolith or alternatively the small Florence workings and dry blowing area, on the western flank of MLA37/1119, may be the source of the alluvial patch.

The Redcastle Reef appears to be a large scale, late stage, local dilational feature caused by folding and subsequent brittle fracturing of the mafic greenstone sequence along granitic contacts.

Regionally the greenstone terrain is characterised by open, upright folds, low grade metamorphism and relatively continuous stratigraphy. The Redcastle Project area is separated by the Keith-Kilkenny Tectonic Zone, to the west, and the Laverton Tectonic Zone to the east with polyphase deformation, variable metamorphic grade, discontinuous stratigraphy and an association with fault bound polymictic conglomerates developed during late extension.

Gold mineralisation is associated with NW trending quartz lodes and the alluvial cover in close proximity to such lodes. The most extensive workings are for alluvial gold but numerous hard rock workings are scattered throughout the Redcastle area.

The majority of the districts significant producers lie within or immediately adjacent to a major tectonic zone. Gold mines in mafic sequences tend to occur in quartz reefs in dilational fault zones with little host rock alteration.

The tenement holding at Redcastle is small but the grade is very high and the Redcastle Reef can be traced east-west for several kilometres. Potential for identification of ‘’blind or buried” sub-parallel, mineralised quartz reefs under the laterite profile are regarded as high. Geological mapping, ground truthing and aircore drilling is recommended to assess the vein potential on M39/1119.