Annual report EL 4820 second year of tenure 1987 Gigantic Mine, Tennant Creek

Abstract

Exploration Licence 4820, which incorporates the Gigantic gold mine, is situated approximately 27 kilometres east of Tennant Creek and is located within Tennant Creek Station owned by Australian Development Limited. It is accessible via a dirt track which leads off the sealed road leading to the microwave tower to the north of the town battery. The licence area covers Proterozoic sediments of the Warramunga Group , host stratigraphy of all gold mines in the Tennant Creek goldfield.

Organisations which previously explored the area include:

Australian Development Limited, Minefields Exploration, Bureau of Mineral Resources, Inter-Copper NL, Uranerz Australia Pty Ltd,

Marathon, United Uranium and CRA Exploration. Much of this exploration was for copper or uranium, but the present exploration programme is for gold. This report covers the work carried out during the second year of tenure and includes further research of previous results together with surface and underground sampling. Work during the second year of tenure included; -

(a) Further research into previous exploration results. At the time when much of the previous work was carried out, the price of gold was low and values then considered uneconomic can be now mined profitably. This work has revealed a mineralised zone of over a strike length of 180 metres at the Gigantic mine area, a second mineralised zone 500 metres west of the Gigantic where a diamond hole drilled by United Uranium intersected 42 metres of over 1 ppm Au and a magnetic anomaly 700 metres west of Gigantic where a vertical hole drilled for U intersected an ironstone containing anomalous gold contacting chlorite sericite sediments. Other geological/geophysical targets exist and are detailed in this report.

(b) Reconnaissance chip sampling from ironstone and haematitic shales in the licence area located gossanous material from the Shady Tree outcrop, 800 metres south of the Gigantic outcrop , containing anomalous copper and bismuth.

(c) Underground channel sampling of the 14 metre level of the No. 3 main shaft; the establishment of access to the 21 metre and 30 metre levels of that shaft; the establishment of ladders to 22 metres of the No. 5 shaft and the installation of a platform at 14 metres from the collar of that shaft.

Results so far indicate the existence of a possibly economic deposit in the Gigantic mine area; a zone of significant mineralisation 500 metres to the west and a potential target area 800 metres to the south.