Highlights
- EMC has entered into an agreement to acquire and earn up to a 100% interest in the Revere Gold Project (“RGP”) north-east of Meekatharra in Western Australia – subject to due diligence and shareholder approval
- Revere Gold Project is located along an inferred extension of the Andy Well Greenstone Shear System, with the DeGrussa Copper-Gold mine along strike, 55km to the north-east
- The project covers 82km2 and includes a system of richly endowed Gold Reefs (The Revere Reefs), from surface over a 7km strike area
- The main tenement area is currently under a mining lease application
- The gold potential of the project at surface has been defined and will be confirmed by a planned initial 36,000 tonne bulk sampling campaign in Q1, 2023
- Potential for near-term mining and gold production through a mobile gravity plant
- Strong copper potential shown at depth in previously completed shallow holes to be followed up by deep diamond holes to test mineralisation at depth
- Three priority drill targets defined – approvals in place for diamond drill program to commence Q1, 2023
Commenting on acquisition of the Revere Gold Project, Chief Operating Officer Simon Phillips said:
“The acquisition of the Revere Gold Project (RGP) represents a transformational opportunity in a proven prolific gold producing region of Western Australia. Gold and precious metals development is a core pillar in EMC’s business strategy and RGP is highly complementary to the recent developments the company has made in the battery metals sector.
RGP is an advanced asset with significant gold and copper potential – both at surface and at depth – which is clearly evidenced from previous exploration work undertaken across the project, from which there is an abundance of high-quality technical data. Our technical team believes there is a clear pathway to establishing a JORC compliant resource and we look forward to providing further details on our exploration strategy and work plans shortly.”
Everest Metals Corporation Limited (ASX: EMC) (“EMC” or “the Company”)is pleased to announce that is has entered into an exclusive legally binding farm-in and joint venture term sheet (“Term Sheet”) to earn up to a 100% interest in the Revere Gold Project in Western Australia from privately owned Entelechy Resources Pty Ltd (‘Entelechy’).
Full material details of the Term Sheet are detailed below. Entelechy is a related party of the Company as it is 100% owned by MSCS Infrastructure Pty Ltd which is 100% owned by the Company Chairman Mark Caruso’s son. As such, the proposed farm-in under the Term Sheet will be subject to shareholder approval.
PROJECT INFORMATION
The project is located just off the Great Northern Highway approximately 90km to the north-east of Meekatharra in the Murchison Region of Western Australia.
The tenement package size, including the tenements under option cover an area of 82km2, including granted tenements E51/1766, E51/1770, P51/3240, P51/3241 and pending applications M51/905 E51/2119, E51/2088. The project sits proximal and along strike of the DeGrussa and Monty Copper-Gold mines, just 55km to the south-west.
The Revere Gold Project is located in the Palaeoproterozoic Yerrida Basin – Doolgunna Formation. The Yerrida Group comprises an early sag-basin succession dominated by siliciclastic and evaporitic sediments deposited in a shallow-water environment, overlain by arenaceous, argillaceous, and mafic volcanic rocks. The basement rock is affected by Capricorn Orogen. Technical review and field assessment by Enterprise Metals (2009-2017), Ausgold (2010-2017), Mineral Commodities (2018-2021), and recent exploration activities by the current tenement holder demonstrated the potential of the Doolgunna formation to host DeGrussa-style Volcanic Hosted Massive Sulphide (VHMS) and Plutonic-style orogenic gold deposits.
Gold Potential
Modern prospectors have recovered considerable quantities of gold nuggets in the area. There is little outcrop in the project area, and historically the nugget source at each of these localities was thought to relate to the weathering of thin quartz veins hosted by the Narracoota and Doolgunna formations.
Visual observations of the lode material from the Revere Reefs indicated that coarse visible gold is contained within iron oxide (gossan mineralisation) which forms the matrix of the quartz breccias. Mapping and drilling of the quartz-carbonate gold reef system indicate a complex stockwork of gold lodes that are hosted within a broad, at least 300m wide, greenschist facies alteration system that is at least 5-7km long. Gold mineralisation has been intersected from surface to at least 130m below surface. The alteration system appears to represent a classic precious metal ductile shear system – the Revere Reef System – that is associated with the Capricorn orogenic event. The west-north-west striking breccia shear zone is interpreted to be related to deep-seated structures and to represent part of a plumbing system for metalliferous fluids that migrated upwards into suitable trap horizons – the quartz breccia or any other suitable structural traps.
Substantial work, including mapping, remote sensing data, geophysics (Magnetics, VTEM, Electrical Resistivity, and Induced Polarisation), soil sampling, RAB, Air Core and RC drilling has been undertaken by different companies at the Revere Gold Project with the best historical drill result being 7.8 g/t (DRC035)[1].
The area continues to deliver a prolific amount of alluvial gold from the extensive mineralised reef systems. Bulk samples of the quartz reefs designed to investigate the potential of a high nugget gold distribution by Enterprise Metals (2007)[2], generally produced bonanza gold grades of around 18 – 65 g/t, however bulk sample results up to 325 g/t have been reported by Mineral Commodities (2018)[3].
Table 1: Bulk sampling result from the Revere Reef
| AREA | Processed (kg) | Recovered (Au grams) | Field Grade estimate(g/t) | Perth Mint (Au grams) | Perth Mint (Ag grams) | Perth Mint Gold grade (g/t) | Silver grade (g/t) |
| Small average looking reef – top reef in Central Pit | 234.6 | 6.4 | 27 | ||||
| Main reef contact zone – not quartz, Central Pit | 293.4 | 104.8 | 357 | 95.58 | 1.46 | 325.77 | 4.98 |
| Main quartz reef in Central Pit | 271.6 | 91.7 | 337 | 82.25 | 0.825 | 302.84 | 3.04 |
| Central Pit Costean sample | 210 | 11.3 | 65 | ||||
| South Pit – near surface | 258.5 | 4.7 | 18 | 4.44 | 0.045 | 17.18 | 0.17 |
| North Pit – limited reef structure | 124.1 | 5 | ~40 |
- Reported by Enterprise Metals (Annual Mineral Exploration Report 2007-2008) and Mineral Commodities (2018)
The Revere Reef is essentially a complex mineralised shear zone structure, composed of geologically distinct, structurally variable, high-grade vein (5-50 g/t/), lens and stockwork occurrences, set within a large halo of background containing low-grade mineralisation (~0.2 g/t).
The gold potential of the project at surface has been defined and will be confirmed by a planned 36,000 tonne bulk sampling campaign and metallurgical test work to define gold liberation, recovery stages, and parameters and the size distribution by Gravity Recoverable Gold (GRG) tests.
The undertaking of the bulk sampling and processing programme will add significant value to understanding the enigma in the disparity to historical gold grades being lost in the sampling and assaying. The bulk sampling test program would be undertaken in the mining lease application area in Q1, 2023 with the potential for near-term mining and gold production through a mobile gravity plant.
Copper Potential
Previous exploration identified widespread secondary copper mineralisation within thick dolomite-shale-sandstone stratigraphy including copper mag-lag and soil sampling by Enterprise Metals (2008)[4].
Rock chip sampling for copper in 1992 by Titan Resources[5] found a strong anomalous zone on Stickmans Lease (P51/1497, now E51/2088), where a copper gossan is currently exposed, striking north-west onto E51/1766.
At depth, the anomalous high nickel and copper values indicate potential for a DeGrussa type copper-gold deposit below the zone of complete oxidisation. Copper and even gold lodes in the region are generally narrow and long, but of high-grade lode (e.g. the Thaduna lode is about 600m long and only average 3m wide). The mineralisation comprises high-grade, shear hosted shoots and a lower grade disseminated mineralisation. In places, the disseminated zone is up to 20m wide. The DeGrussa deposit was discovered in follow up drilling of a zone of oxide gold mineralisation similar to that found at the Revere Gold Project.
Three deep core drill holes (> 300m diamond holes) have been planned to test geochemical and magnetic anomalies at depth. This would not just indicate the potential for a copper resource at depth but also the potential increase in other metalloids including gold.
NEXT STEPS
- JV agreement to be signed in January 2023
- Shareholder approval at the EGM in February 2023
- Bulk sampling, metallurgical test works, geophysical 3D modelling and diamond drill program to commence late Q1, 2023 subject to the shareholder approval
[1] ASX: MRC announcement; High Grade Gold Mineralisation Results from Doolgunna Project, WA, dated 5 September 2018.
[2] ASX: ENT announcement; Annual Report 30 June 2007.
[3] ASX: MRC announcement; High Grade Gold Mineralisation Results from Doolgunna Project, WA, dated 5 September 2018.
[4] ASX: ENT announcement; Annual Report 30 June 2008.
[5] Annual Mineral Exploration Report, 1992.
