Barrambie Vanadium / Iron Ore Project
Prime has also commissioned a detailed low level radiometric/magnetic survey over the northern section of it Barrambie project area, following the completion of its Lake Mason survey. The objective of this survey is to define extensions to the known Barrambie vanadium/iron mineralisation (within the titaniferous magnetite horizons), and to define litho/structural positions favourable to the deposition of gold mineralisation. Prime has an 80% interest in two tenements at Barrambie, located approximately 60 km NNW of Sandstone in Western Australia. The tenements are considered prospective for vanadium-titanium-iron and deposits of gold. The tenements cover 418km2 of the Archaean Barrambie Greenstone Belt and enclosing granitoids. The centrally located Barrambie Sill, a layered mafic igneous complex, typically contains a core of concentrated vanadium bearing titaniferous-magnetite. Reed Resources Ltd (“Reed”) holds a vanadium-titanium-iron deposit in the Bay-Cove area, within a narrow 500 m wide, 11 km long mining lease which is centrally located within Prime’s Barrambie project. Reed has published a JORC compliant Indicated and Inferred mineral resource of 39.2 Mt at an average grade of 0.49% V2O5 and 11.3 % TiO2 and 22.3% Fe2O3 down to 80 metres depth over a strike length of 4.4 kilometres. Coarse airborne geophysical data and previous mapping, drilling and rock chip sampling indicate that Prime’s tenements contain 24 strike kilometres of similar magnetic bodies. The new low-level airborne magnetic survey will largely define these bodies. Previous exploration between 1985 and 1997 at Barrambie has defined the extensions of known gold mineralisation and also discovered new zones of mineralisation. Published pre-JORC target mineralisation spread over several deposits totals 161,522 tonnes at 3.34 g/t Au for 17,354 ounces. The planned airborne survey will help define gold targets within shear zones that are splays off the major north northwest trending Edale Fault, a structural position similar to the Lord Nelson deposit being mined by Troy Resources NL near Sandstone, approximately 80km to the SSE. Background
The Tenements cover some 418km2 of the Archaean Barrambie Greenstone Belt and enclosing granitoids. Lithologies at Barrambie which host gold mineralisation include gabbro, granite, felsic volcanics and sediments. Many of the known deposits within the Prime project area contain a significant portion of supergene gold, and the higher grade cores are typically sulphide bearing quartz veins. Gold was first discovered at Barrambie in 1905 during the construction of the rabbit-proof fence. Small scale mining was undertaken in the Barrambie, Errolls, Sugarstone and Scheelite mining centres in the years prior to the First World War. Total recorded production is 27,339 ounces of gold from 34,101 tonnes. The tenements represent a project area with very significant potential for economic resources of gold and vanadium rich titaniferous magnetite. No gold exploration has been undertaken in the last ten years. Barrambie – Gold Mineralisation and Target Areas
The geological and structural setting of some of the gold mineralisation in the Barrambie project area is remarkably similar to the Lord Henry and Lord Nelson deposits recently discovered by Troy Resources along the faulted and sheared eastern margin of the Sandstone Greenstone Belt. The mineralisation at “The Lords” is associated with a north-south trending fault forming part of the Edale Fault Corridor. Most of this gold is associated with pyrite-silica alteration within sheared granitoids. The northwest – southeast trending Edale Fault can be confidently traced to the Barrambie Area. The fact that similar – style mineralisation within the same structural feature exists is highly encouraging, greatly increasing the gold prospectivity of the Barrambie project area. Rock chip sampling to the southeast of the Barrambie Mine located anomalous gold in a flow banded rhyolite with a best result of 3.93g/t gold. This anomaly remains untested. At the Silver Lining Prospect, 1.5km north northwest of the old Barrambie Gold Mine, significant gold mineralisation has been intersected within north west trending ferruginous quartz veins associated with shear zones. Only 3 RC holes for 242m have been drilled to date, with best results of 14m at 2.2g/t Au from 50m. Further drilling is recommended to test the extent of the mineralisation at depth. Within the Errolls Mining Centre, a pre-JORC target mineralisation of 27,522t at 4.13 g/t gold for 3,654 ounces has been defined at the Legacy prospect. Shallow rotary air blast drilling 160m along strike to the south with results of up to 2m at 6.85 g/t Au suggests that the mineralisation defined to date has potential to grow. Shallow reconnaissance RC drilling at the Inheritance Mine some 160m along strike to the north of Errolls has intersected 3 metres grading 15.3 g/t Au, indicating that significant gold mineralisation also extends in this direction. The mineralisation remains open in all directions, and several parallel structures in the area remain lightly tested by drilling. The Ironclad South prospect (also known as Kismet) south of the Sugarstone Mining Centre has not been fully RC drill tested, despite some early encouragement from scout drilling. Drill results of 14m at 5.49g/t Au from 18m in hole BR64 (inc 4m at 18.17g/tAu from 18m) have been reported. There is an absence of quartz with this intersection, but an abundance of martite rich lithologies from the Barrambie Sill. It was also reported that the ore shoot had a 50m strike, was steeply plunging and was not drill tested below 20 vertical metres from surface. In 2000 St Barbara Mines Ltd explored in the general vicinity of Ironclad South and reported drilling a 5m to 30m wide north-trending shear zone with chlorite-sericite-carbonate alteration and multiple quartz veins and stringers along the eastern margin of a relatively unaltered massive biotite granodiorite. The eastern part of the granodiorite outcrop is variably chlorite altered over widths of 50m. Aircore drilling intersected significant gold mineralisation within this shear zone over a strike length of 75m. The best drill intercepts included 7m at 7.03g/t from 33m (hole SSTA33) and 2m at 5.13g/t from 35m (hole SSTA35). The discovery of this high grade zone in sheared granodiorite suggests the potential for similar deposits to that being mined by Troy Resources NL at their mine situated approximately 50 kilometres south east of Prime’s Barrambie project. Barrambie is also 35 kilometres west south west of the Gidgee Gold Mine which is currently on care and maintenance but has produced in excess of one million ounces of gold. Significant previous exploration RC drilling results are shown below.
Barrambie – Vanadium Iron Ore Mineralisation and Target Areas This resource estimate is largely based on percussion drilling by Ferrovanadium Corp NL Analysis of recently flown low level detailed aeromagnetic data over the Prime Minerals project area has outlined the presence of approximately 24 kilometres of highly magnetic bodies with a similar magnetic signature to that found over the Reed Resources deposit. There are three main occurrences, at Prime Mineral’s Barrambie North (9km strike length), Ballanhoe Hills (5km) and a further 10km at the Virginia Hills prospect. Virginia Hills is approximately 6km west of the Reed Resources deposit. Surface sampling by Ferrovanadium Corp NL at Virginia Hills returned assay results of 45 to 53% Fe, 11.1 to 14.8% TiO2 and 0.73 to 1.15% V2O5 (refer Figure C). Based on the presence of 24 kilometres of Barrambie Sill – type rocks the project area has the potential to host a substantially larger resource than that outlined within the Reed Resources Mining Lease. Exploration Program Prime will acquire the aeromagnetic data to carry out geological interpretation and on site sampling over the vanadium target areas to define a detailed drilling program. |
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