Tasmania Joint Venture Project
Introduction
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Pioneer has applied tenements located in Northwest Tasmania. These are the Heazlewood, considered prospective for nickel sulphide mineralisation, and a second at Whyte River, which is prospective for gold. Both tenements are located near Savage River.
Heazlewood Prospect
Introduction
The Heazlewood project is within an intensely mineralised Cambrian mineral province which includes such world famous mines as Rosebery (base metals), Renison Bell (tin) and Mount Lyell (copper-gold). In terms of world class mineral production, in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries the Heazlewood Serpentinite Complex was a world leading producer of "Osmiridium", a naturally occurring alloy of the Platinum Group Metals Osmium, Iridium and Ruthenium.
Latest Development by Pioneer
Pioneer has acquired a database including State geophysical surveys, mapping and geochemistry; and all open file data relevant to the prospect. Pioneer's consultants are currently interpreting the datasets ahead of the commencement of fieldwork in summer.
Geological Setting
The Heazlewood project largely covers the Heazlewood Serpentinite Complex, a 15km N-S and 5km E-W differentiated ultramafic complex. The complex youngs eastwards, and consists, from the base, of peridotite-bronzite, then pyroxenite and upper saussuritised gabbro.
Nickel Sulphide has been mined at Brassey Hill and is identified at several locations including Fentons Knob. Of interest, the Heazelwood district has its own named nickel sulphide mineral species, Heazlewoodite.
The main PGM mineralisation is at Bald Hill, associated with intensely talc-altered and weathered chalcedonised serpentinite occurring over a NE trending 8 x 3km area. The Caudry Osmiridium Mine workings are located on the west side of Bald Hill at the SW limit of the chalcedonised zone, and consist of a trench 50m long and up to 2m wide and 5m deep, following a mineralized NW trending "joint plane".
The Pursell Osmiridium Mine is in the central part of the Bald Hill chalcedonised zone, sited on a stockwork of cellular limonite-silica gossans, with remnant pyrite, pyrrhotite and magnetite. Associated minerals within the gossans are gold, platinum and chromite.
Whyte River Prospect
Introduction
Pioneer's tenement covers the eastern portion of the Corinna Gold Field, including the main alluvial workings of the gold field. This also includes the discovery site by McGinty and party of the largest gold nugget found in Tasmania being some 7.5kg of gold in the Rocky River.
Geological Setting
The tenement is within Proterozoic rocks of the Arthur Metamorphic Complex, a greenstone belt with a strike length of 100km and a width of 10km, comprising the Timbs Group and Oonah Formation. The Timbs Group consists predominantly of muscovite chlorite schist with minor quartzose intervals. The Oonah Formation comprises muscovite schist and phyllite interbanded with quartz schist. Prograde metamorphism has been dated as Cambrian at 500Ma.
A substantial granite intrusion outcrops east of the application; tin mineralisation and base metal mineralisation are associated with this granite.
Tertiary gravels frequently overlain by basalt flows are common with in the application and a potential source for some of the alluvial gold.
Alluvial gold was discovered at Middleton's Creek to the tenement in 1879. There are no accurate records of production from the Corinna Gold Field, but coarse gold up to 3 ounces was found until 1900, with alluvial mining continuing until present day on a small scale.
Hard rock historic mining was small scale and scattered, with very few reports of high grades. Recent sampling by the Goldstream-Titan JV of the known hard rock mineralisation was also low grade. The Goldstream-Titan JV completed the most systematic and detailed work to date, between 1994 and 2002. This included extensive stream sediment, soil and rock chip sampling, 8 reconnaissance diamond drill holes and a detailed Helimag Survey.
However, extensive modern exploration has failed to adequately explain the origin of widespread alluvial gold. Gold grain morphology and electron probe work completed for the Goldstream Mining NL-Titan JV, concluded the gold was of primary origin. This was based on limited transport damage, high crystallinity and gold fineness noted in the study of more than 50 samples by 2 consultants.
Copper is reported from both Rocky River and Lucy Spur, with minor silver sometimes present.
