Aruma Resources Ltd (ASX: AAJ) announced that highly anomalous gold samples were identified from the sampling at its Melrose gold project in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
The company said that these further highly anomalous gold mineralisation come from two new licence – ELA08/3244 and ELA47/4414. AAJ reported that ELA08/3244 hosts 0.5m-wide quartz veins assaying up to 1.74g/t Au, while ELA47/4414 has rock chip assays grading up to 0.36g/t Au.
Aruma noted that the gold anomalies are on the same structure as that of Northern Star’s Belvedere Prospect. The company announced that the conductivity and Mapping studies are underway to define alteration and mineralisation.
Melrose project
The Melrose Gold Project consists of seven Exploration Licence Applications (ELA08/3183, ELA08/3184, ELA08/3188, ELA47/4362, ELA08/3219, ELA47/4414, and ELA08/3244) and covers a total area of 185km2. It is located approximately 105 km south of the mining town of Pannawonica on the border of the Ashburton and West Pilbara Mineral Fields.
The Melrose Project is situated on the southern edge of the Pilbara Craton, adjacent to Northern Star Resources’ Paulsens Gold Mine and the Belvedere Deposit.
The Paulsens Deposit was discovered and mined in the early 1930s and was then called the Melrose Mine. It is situated in a +3M oz. gold camp and most production have come from multiple lodes at the Paulsen Mine.
Modern evaluation and mining of the Paulsens mine by NuStar Mining Corporation commenced in May 2004 and the Paulsens process plant poured the first bar in June 2005.
In July 2010, Northern Star Resources took over the mine and successfully mined it until late 2017 producing up to 100,000 oz. Au per year through both existing and new ore shoots.
Since 2017 Northern Star has relinquished areas in the Paulsens district following initial exploration, and these areas represent the ground that Aruma has appraised, using “gold in sediment” models to seek stratigraphic repetitions in favourable structures associated with the Nanjilgardy Fault.
ELA47/4414 and ELA08/3244
Exploration Licence Applications ELA47/4414 and ELA08/3244 are located within the Melrose project and cover a total of 19km2 area.
It may be noted that ELA08/3244 hosts gold mineralisation within quartz veins, as reported in Northern Star Resources’ 2012 Annual Exploration Report on the Ashburton Project.
Further highly anomalous gold results from sampling
The company announced that the latest results from the two new Exploration Licence Applications ELA47/4414 and ELA08/3244, have delivered highly anomalous historical gold samples up to 1.74g/t in quartz veins as well as rock chips assays.
“Significant results included 1.74ppm Au (NPGER000889) from south west of the Belvedere Prospect. Elevated copper, up to 25% (NPGER000821), is located through the areas and is often associated with the gold mineralisation in quartz veins.”
Same regional structure as Paulsens
The company noted that the Melrose Project is situated on the same regional structure reported as the main source of gold mineralisation at the nearby Paulsens Gold Mine, and also the Mt Olympus Gold Mine in the region.
The Melrose project covers these gold bearing structures and stratigraphy, which are intimately associated with the 1 million-ounce Paulsens Mine. The structural corridors that control the mineralisation at Paulsens appear to continue into Aruma’s Melrose Project area.
Most of the reported historic drilling and sampling was conducted on east-west traverses at a spacing that Aruma believes has left windows of opportunity for the discovery of further gold mineralisation.
Potential lode systems
Aruma said that the significance of the quartz veins in the new lease area is that they are expected to be associated with adjacent lode style gold mineralisation.
AAJ reported that it will be utilising these veins to identify any associated lodes systems.
Conductivity and mapping studies to define further alteration and mineralisation
Aruma reported that it has now commenced a HyVista multispectral mineral mapping and Radar conductivity study, as well as the Aster Thermal mineral mapping program over a targeted 80km2 area within the Melrose Project area.
The company said that this mapping program over known mineralisation will utilise the pre-mining spectral data and this method and approach also has the potential to be deployed by Aruma to help target gold forming alteration and mineralization at its other project areas.