Warrawoona

(100% Interest)

  • Tenement package over 147km2 of highest grade gold producing district in the Pilbara region with priority gold targets delineated.
  • Horrigans prospect – a six kilometre long gold in soil and RAB zone with rockchip samples up to 66.5 g/t Au, untested below 21 metres depth.
  • Kiwi Ridge prospect – a recently discovered 400 metre strike zone of gold specimens and gold in soil anomalism adjacent to outcropping base metal gossans in volcanic rocks with rockchip results up to 14% Cu and 1.6 g/t Au.
  • Previous significant drilling intercepts await followup – 8m at 8.65 g/t Au at the Cutty Sark prospect and 13m @ 1.45 g/t Au from an eight kilometre long gold in soil anomaly at Klondyke Extended prospect.

The Warrawoona project is situated over 147km2 of greenstones of the Archaean Pilbara block in the East Pilbara mineral field of Western Australia, located 25 kilometres south from the regional town of Marble Bar. Talga Gold Ltd owns the right to purchase 100% of the project which comprises one exploration licence and three prospecting licences covering a portion of the Warrawoona goldfield. Warrawoona is one of the largest historical mafic-ultramafic-hosted goldfields of the Pilbara, with officially recorded total production of 24,000 oz Au at an average grade of 29.6 g/t Au (Hickman, 1983). The Warrawoona project contains four distinct gold targets: the nameplate Warrawoona prospect; Foxes Battery; Cutty Sark and Kiwi Ridge prospects.

Figure 1: Warrawoona project geology and gold occurrences

Figure 1: Warrawoona project geology and gold occurrences

Warrawoona Prospect

The project is centred on the Warrawoona Synclinorium, a structurally deformed belt of predominantly mafic to ultramafic volcanics that is trapped in the suture zone between the Corunna Downs and Mount Edgar megagranite complexes. The northern limb of the syncline hosts the historic Warrawoona mining centre (excised) where up to 1935 12,000 t ore was produced at an average grade of 56 g/t Au from selective mining small rich shoots. It has been suggested that modern mining methods could extract more gold from larger tonnages of lower grade ore (Geological Survey of Western Australia presentation 2008).

Figure 2: Warrawoona project gold in soil geochemistry image with exploration highlights

Figure 2: Warrawoona project gold in soil geochemistry image with exploration highlights

Gold mineralisation of the Warrawoona centre is hosted by altered schist along the central Klondyke trend that extends for over 6 km through Talgas ground to the south east of the known historic gold workings. Previous work by Rio Tinto in the mid 1990′s returned encouraging results from a first pass wide spaced drill program. However recommended further work was not carried out, and the zone remains of high potential for major gold deposits to be discovered.

Elsewhere on the Warrawoona prospect, one of several significant gold exploration targets is along a linear, northwest trending zone approximately 18km long. The target zone contains near contiguous gold occurrences defined by historic workings, scout drill intercepts and soil, stream and rock geochemistry anomalies. These mark favourable sites for medium scale high grade gold deposits to potentially form along the major east-west structures that parallel the Klondyke shear zone. An additional second order target exists where the long term erosion of such a contiguous line of gold lodes has fed into the core of the syncline and formed potential dryland channel gold deposits.

Figure 3: Warrawoona landscape

Figure 3: Warrawoona landscape

Kiwi Ridge Prospect

Further west is the Kiwi Ridge prospect where gold was first found in 1992. A subsequent soil geochemical survey defined a 400 m long part of the 1.4km long ridge that was shedding visible gold in a soil anomaly peaking at 180ppb Au, open to the east. The gold is interpreted to be hosted by a cherty BIF/mafic/felsic sequence similar to that hosting adjacent published gold resources at Coronation Ridge (250,000 tonnes at 3.2g/t Au) and Fielding’s Gully (531,000 tonnes for 75,400oz Au). Additionally a zone of high grade base metal mineralisation was located 500m south east of the gold strike, with subcropping gossanous veins returning rock sample assay results up to 14% Cu and 1.6 g/t Au. The average of 5 rock samples returned 7% Cu.

Cutty Sark Prospect

The Cutty Sark prospect is located approximately 5km east from Kiwi Ridge and consists of numerous zones of historic gold workings developed in strongly sheared and deformed volcanic schists. The actual Cutty Sark mine recorded average production grades of 150g/t Au and limited open hole reconnaissance drilling by the vendor intersected best result 8 m at 8.5g/t Au from 16-24 m EOH that has not been followed up.

Fox’s Battery

At the Fox’s Battery prospect the major gold target occurs along a fault splay west from structures relating to the Klondyke deposit (300,000oz Au outlined previously by Rio Tinto) and east along strike of the BIF/Metasediment horizon hosting the open-pit gold deposit at Copenhagen (Haoma Mining Ltd). Additionally a gold in soil anomaly peaking at 1330ppb Au in the north of the tenement remains untested.

Plan & Timeframe

Detailed mapping, sampling, approvals and siteworks are planned during the 1st to 2nd quarters of 2010. Talga’s primary gold targets are on the granted prospecting licences where the high grade drill intercept is to be followed up at Cutty Sark. At the same time drilling of the gold+copper discoveries at Kiwi Ridge can take place, where cultural heritage surveys have already been completed. Follow up of the large Warrawoona shear zone/Mt Edgar complex contact gold targets will take place after grant of the tenement expected by mid-2010.