SAXBY PROJECT – MT ISA BLOCK - QUEENSLAND
(Gold, Copper-Gold)
(Falcon 100%)
The Saxby Project is 150 km northeast of Cloncurry in northwest Queensland.
The target rocks, termed basement are buried beneath 400m of younger sedimentary rocks and as such, exploration is challenging and high risk. Nonetheless, the district is highly prospective as the buried basement rocks are interpreted as belonging to the Eastern Succession of the Mt Isa Province which has a long and proven record of mineral endowment. The Eastern Succession hosts significant copper-gold, molybdenum, lead-silver-zinc and uranium deposits and is recognised as a world-class exploration destination.
Falcon and its former joint venture partners have used airborne magnetic, ground gravity and ground electromagnetic surveys to facilitate mapping of prospective units under deep cover followed by diamond drill testing of selected targets. The technical success rate has been high with diamond drill holes intersecting low-grade nickel-copper sulphides in gabbro-norite, elevated copper-rare earth elements in skarn and structurally-hosted gold at the contact between metasedimentary rocks and intrusive rocks.
The gold discovery was made in 2008 with drill hole SXD005. It intersected 17m at 6.75g/t Au from 631m and includes a high-grade core of 5m at 19.3g/t Au from 635m. This hole also intersected a second zone of lower-grade gold mineralization (7m at 1.98g/t Au from 614m).
The focus in 2010 was to accelerate gold exploration around the discovery hole. This work was managed and operated by AngloGold Ashanti Australia Limited (AngloGold) up until their withdrawal in February 2011. AngloGold completed detailed geophysical surveys followed by the drilling of five diamond holes (4,044m).
Drill hole SXDD014 confirmed the importance of the gold discovery and intersected 15m at 9.09 g/t Au from 701m including a high-grade core of 8m at 15.09 from 701m. A further zone of gold mineralization was intersected deeper in the hole (3m at 3.57g/t Au from 747m).
The other holes drilled in this program failed to test what is now regarded as the gold zone. The intent of hole SXD013 was to drill up-dip of the SXD005 gold intersection but unfortunately, this hole steepened dramatically and then deviated away from the gold zone.
Gold mineralization is associated with variably altered, veined and brecciated meta-igneous rocks. It appears to be controlled by a prominent north-northeast trending structure that is readily observed in the magnetic data. Spatially the gold intersections of SXD005 and SXD014 are about 200m apart and the gold mineralization is open in all directions.
Falcon considers the Saxby gold prospect an important greenfields discovery and is mindful that the gold target must be large and high-grade to sustain an underground mining operation given the depth of the discovery. The next exploration phase will seek to answer these questions. Diamond drilling is planned for April 2012.
 |  |
