Balagundi Project
Introduction
![[Balagundi geology and location plan]](showmap.php?n=balagundi.gif "Balagundi geology and location plan")
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The Balagundi Project is located 20km E of Kalgoorlie. Pioneer (through Western Copper Pty Limited) has a 100% interest in the project. The Project comprises three exploration licences and seven prospecting licences, totalling 123km².
Pioneer's geologists have identified a geological setting that is considered to be consistent with that hosting volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits. This target style includes Golden Grove and Teutonic Bore Mines as Western Australian examples.
New geochemistry by Pioneer in conjunction with drilling records from the late 1990s has been used to generate drilling targets, initially for the Trapdoor Prospect.
Previous drilling returned:
- 4m at 3.2% Cu (as malachite) at 20-24m depth. This hole ended at 31m and is the only hole to test the mineralised horizon at the Redback Prospect; and
- 4m at 1.04g/t Au.
Latest News (September 2007)
The currently exploration program will see 10 hole (1,200m) RC drilling program completed at the Redback Prospect. Geological logs record for two holes indicate malachite (copper carbonate) mineralisation over 8m and 5m respectively on sections 40m apart. Mineralised samples have been submitted for analysis.
Project Summary
The base metal potential of the Balagundi area is flagged by drill intersections discovered during regional gold exploration by prior explorers Acacia Resources and Australian Selection during their respective tenures of the property.
Acacia's copper discovery locality is called the Trapdoor Prospect. Here, Acacia was following up a gold-soil anomaly with thirty-eight 100 metre spaced RAB holes on six 200 metre spaced traverses. The 'discovery' hole intersected 15 metres @ 0.97% Cu from 16 metre including 4 metres @ 3.2% Cu (see Fig 2). The 31 metre deep vertical hole bottomed in 4 metres @ 0.4%Cu. The intersection which comprised 4 metre composite samples was not assayed for other base metals and apparently aroused no interest from the then gold-only seeking tenement holders.
The mineralised intersection is hosted in saprock and is within a sequence of felsic sediments and volcanic derived fragmental rocks. The mineralisation is associated with a laminated chert unit with mafic volcanics in the adjacent drill hole 100 metres to the east. 'Weathered pyrite' is the only logged sulphide. Anomalous copper values are recorded in the two nearest RAB holes, (7m at 0.066% Cu from 52m and 14m at 0.049% Cu from 32m), some 200 metres NNE along strike.
Elsewhere on the project other past explorers have also found indications of VMS style mineralisation. At Mt Youle, Australian Selection intersected up to 7m at 0.7%Cu within metatuff - metasediments. To the northeast of Mt Youle and just outside the Balagundi Project, Esso found stratabound sulphide mineralisation hosted by a volcanogenic sequence including pyrite-pyrrhotite within chert units.
Geological Potential and Planned Work
The Balagundi Project tenement group generally and the Trapdoor locality in particular displays most components of a classic VMS geological environment. The setting of the Canadian Abitibi VMS deposits and others is mirrored by a number of features found at or near the Balagundi setting:
In a very practical sense, the existing database is advanced and provides targets for early evaluation. This database includes gold-focussed geochemistry and RAB drilling.
Pioneer's priority for the project includes:
- detailed soil geochemistry throughout the project
- Orientation RC drilling to investigate the Trapdoor anomaly geological setting
- interpret detailed aeromagnetic data for a subsurface geological model
- geophysical and alteration zone mapping to generate drill targets
