Bullfinch Project
The Company concluded the purchase of a number of contiguous mineral tenements (aggregating approximately 420 km2) from Talga Resources Limited in July 2018. It has subsequently applied for and was granted an adjoining Exploration Licence (EL77/2522) to the East of the Talga ground, covering an area of approximately 210 km2. The Company, therefore, has 100% ownership of approximately 630 km2 of the highly prospective Bullfinch gold province.
The Bullfinch area is known for its high-grade gold discoveries dating back to 1887. However, despite recorded gold production of over 15 million ounces from within a 100 km radius of the project area, local gold production has been dominated by the singular Copperhead gold mine which commenced production in 1910 and, after three periods of production, finally closed in 1997.
The Bullfinch tenements include over 200 gold prospects outlined by high grade surface sampling, small scale mining and drilling (generally by local prospectors) immediately East of the, now dormant, Copperhead mine. Work by professional explorationists has been strictly limited. As a result, very few modern exploration techniques have been employed in the area. The Board strongly believes, therefore, that excellent potential exists in this area to discover a number of additional gold resources similar in size to the ~ 1.5 million oz Copperhead deposit.
Recent geochemical work by the Company demonstrated that a series of six or seven parallel, gold bearing quartz reefs could exist over a +2 km strike length at the Withers prospect alone – just six kilometers WNW of the now dormant Copperhead mine site. Previous informal mining on one of these quartz reefs produced 1472 tonnes of ore at a recovered grade of 35.7g/t (1688 ounces). Please refer to the Independent Geologist's Report in Section 10 (the ‘Historical Production’ section) for further details.
The story is similar elsewhere around Bullfinch where near surface workings of quartz reefs have demonstrated significant gold grades within the lodes. Examples are the Rutherford prospect (308 tonnes at a recovered grade of 19.6 g/t gold) and the Reynolds prospect (1643 tonnes at a recovered grade of 11.9 g/t gold). Numerous other examples of high-grade reefs exist.
The Bullfinch tenements include over 200 gold prospects outlined by high grade surface sampling, small scale mining and drilling (generally by local prospectors) immediately East of the, now dormant, Copperhead mine. Work by professional explorationists has been strictly limited. As a result, very few modern exploration techniques have been employed in the area. The Board strongly believes, therefore, that excellent potential exists in this area to discover a number of additional gold resources similar in size to the ~ 1.5 million oz Copperhead deposit.
Recent geochemical work by the Company demonstrated that a series of six or seven parallel, gold bearing quartz reefs could exist over a +2 km strike length at the Withers prospect alone – just six kilometers WNW of the now dormant Copperhead mine site. Previous informal mining on one of these quartz reefs produced 1472 tonnes of ore at a recovered grade of 35.7g/t (1688 ounces). Please refer to the Independent Geologist's Report in Section 10 (the ‘Historical Production’ section) for further details.
The story is similar elsewhere around Bullfinch where near surface workings of quartz reefs have demonstrated significant gold grades within the lodes. Examples are the Rutherford prospect (308 tonnes at a recovered grade of 19.6 g/t gold) and the Reynolds prospect (1643 tonnes at a recovered grade of 11.9 g/t gold). Numerous other examples of high-grade reefs exist.
Historical production within the area
The area proximate to the Bullfinch Project is dominated by the now dormant Copperhead mine which has proved to be one of the most productive mines in the Southern Cross Province and is surrounded by many smaller gold occurrences. Historically, Copperhead was an underground mine with production from 1910 - 1944 including 567,000 t @ 11.2 g/t Au (204,192 ozs from oxide ore). A further 3.2 Mt @ 4.23 g/t Au (435,241 ozs) was produced from sulphide ore between 1952 and 1962. Larger scale open pit mining at Copperhead commenced following the introduction of CIP/CIL gold recovery technology and the open pit produced an additional 4.7 Mt @ 1.81 g/t Au (273,537 ozs) from 1985–1997.
Many other groups of historic workings occur within the Tenements acquired by the Company, for which no production records have been sighted by the Company, include Golden Frog, Bedstead, Perilya, Bottom, Peter Pan and Sheds.
The area proximate to the Bullfinch Project is dominated by the now dormant Copperhead mine which has proved to be one of the most productive mines in the Southern Cross Province and is surrounded by many smaller gold occurrences. Historically, Copperhead was an underground mine with production from 1910 - 1944 including 567,000 t @ 11.2 g/t Au (204,192 ozs from oxide ore). A further 3.2 Mt @ 4.23 g/t Au (435,241 ozs) was produced from sulphide ore between 1952 and 1962. Larger scale open pit mining at Copperhead commenced following the introduction of CIP/CIL gold recovery technology and the open pit produced an additional 4.7 Mt @ 1.81 g/t Au (273,537 ozs) from 1985–1997.
- Historic recorded gold production for the Wither’s Find prospect is 1,688 Oz from 1,472 tonnes. A recovered grade of approximately 35.7 g/t Au.
- Historic records show that Reynold’s Find produced 630 Oz from 1,643 tonnes of ore. A recovered grade of approximately 11.9 g/t Au.
- Similarly, records show that Rutherford’s Find recorded production of 194 Oz from 308 tonnes. An average recovered grade of 19.6 g/t Au.
Many other groups of historic workings occur within the Tenements acquired by the Company, for which no production records have been sighted by the Company, include Golden Frog, Bedstead, Perilya, Bottom, Peter Pan and Sheds.
Exploration potential
The Board has planned a two-staged approach to develop the Bullfinch Project.
The first stage is to target near surface, high grade gold structures demonstrated by the presence of historic workings throughout the Project. These gold occurrences were targeted predominantly by informal miners and some sub-surface drill testing by previous explorers, however, initial geochemical analysis by the Company shows the potential for these structures to extend beyond that which was formerly mined and explored.
The second stage involves an extensive Reverse Circulation (RC) / Air Core (AC) drilling programme to test these structures. Where quantitative grade analysis is difficult to attain by drilling alone, due to the high grade nuggety nature of the gold, a series of bulk samples are planned. This process of grade determination will have the advantage of producing gold “ore” which may be processed at the nearby Marvel Loch mill, located 65 km to the South and which the Board understands has excess capacity for gold ore feed. Such procesing would be subject to the execution of an agreement at such time.
Figure 1 shows the gold prospects related to the north-northwest trending structure along which the main deposits of the Southern Cross belt are found.
The Board has planned a two-staged approach to develop the Bullfinch Project.
The first stage is to target near surface, high grade gold structures demonstrated by the presence of historic workings throughout the Project. These gold occurrences were targeted predominantly by informal miners and some sub-surface drill testing by previous explorers, however, initial geochemical analysis by the Company shows the potential for these structures to extend beyond that which was formerly mined and explored.
The second stage involves an extensive Reverse Circulation (RC) / Air Core (AC) drilling programme to test these structures. Where quantitative grade analysis is difficult to attain by drilling alone, due to the high grade nuggety nature of the gold, a series of bulk samples are planned. This process of grade determination will have the advantage of producing gold “ore” which may be processed at the nearby Marvel Loch mill, located 65 km to the South and which the Board understands has excess capacity for gold ore feed. Such procesing would be subject to the execution of an agreement at such time.
Figure 1 shows the gold prospects related to the north-northwest trending structure along which the main deposits of the Southern Cross belt are found.
Figure 2 shows how, within the Copperhead-Bullfinch area, there is a number of gold occurrences to the east of the main belt. This is clearly an area of structural interest with regards to gold mineralisation, especially considering the Copperhead mine has historically been one of the most productive mines in the region.
Bullfinch Prospects
The immediate focus will be on drilling a number of existing high grade, shallow gold targets.
An early programme of bulk sampling is planned from selected prospects, in order to better define the grade, attitude and distribution of the wide spread gold mineralization. A likely benefit of such sampling is to create an ongoing income stream from gold sales. Under certain circumstances, a total of up to 50,000 tonnes of material can be extracted in this way. There are two, under capacity, processing plants within an 80Km radius and desk top studies have indicated that significant cash income may be generated.
The initial aim of the Company will be to outline sufficient gold resources at Bullfinch in order to establish a feasible and profitable gold mining operation similar in size to the adjacent “Copperhead” mine (1.5 million ounces resource).
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Note: The Copperhead mine is not owned, nor controlled by Torque.
The immediate focus will be on drilling a number of existing high grade, shallow gold targets.
An early programme of bulk sampling is planned from selected prospects, in order to better define the grade, attitude and distribution of the wide spread gold mineralization. A likely benefit of such sampling is to create an ongoing income stream from gold sales. Under certain circumstances, a total of up to 50,000 tonnes of material can be extracted in this way. There are two, under capacity, processing plants within an 80Km radius and desk top studies have indicated that significant cash income may be generated.
The initial aim of the Company will be to outline sufficient gold resources at Bullfinch in order to establish a feasible and profitable gold mining operation similar in size to the adjacent “Copperhead” mine (1.5 million ounces resource).
______________
Note: The Copperhead mine is not owned, nor controlled by Torque.