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Esmeralda Project
The Croydon Extension, covering regions of the Croydon Volcanic Group, is just east of the historic Croydon Goldfield which generated around 513,000 ounces of gold and in addition significant quantities of tin.
A mineral resource assessment carried out by the Queensland Department of Mines and Energy concluded that there is a high potential for the occurrence of small tin lodes extending south southeast from Stanhills, especially near the contact of the Esmeralda Supersuite and the Croydon Volcanic Group. In addition, there is also the potential to prove up small volumes of alluvial resources at grades in excess of 0.5kg SnO2/m3.
The area is also permissive for the occurrence of Croydon-type gold veins, especially in the northern most part where two small alluvial gold occurrences are present. However, the gold and tin mineralization tends to be mutually exclusive and they do not occur together in the same deposits.
The Esmeralda tenement contains approximately 70 mineral locations of which 64 are historical tin mines. The first recorded discovery of tin in the Stanhills tinfield was in 1900, and 38.76 tonnes of tin concentrates were produced between 1900 and 1906. Mining continued sporadically until 1949, with total recorded production of 201.32 tonnes of concentrates from lodes and 78.19 tonnes from alluvial deposits.
Exploration Plan
Situated within the Croydon tenement, the Esmeralda project aims to explore breccia pipe-like structures which were the main basis for the historically rich tin lode mines in the region. While alluvial deposits are present across the tenement, the identification of key pipe structures will significantly add to the viability of the project. Little is known about the underlying geology with no significant aeromagnetic work being recorded across this region. Better understanding of the source of these pipe-like bodies will assist in identifying additional and subsurface (blind) pipes that are yet to be exploited.
Strategy
An aeromagnetic survey is planned for late 2007 across the region to identify controls for these pipe-like structures in order to assist in identifying sample programs and drill targets to commence in the third quarter of 2008.