The 100% owned Dundas project is considered to be prospective for gold and nickel.
The Dundas project comprises one exploration licence (E63/1914) located 24km south of Norseman, Western Australia and covers an area of approximately 22 km2 in the Dundas Gold Field. The project is accessed by the Coolgardie-Esperance Highway that runs through the top of the project area then onto exploration tracks.
The local geology consists of lateritised Cainozoic sediments varying from 5 metres to 90 metres in depth that overlie lignite and unconsolidated sands in relict palaeochannels. This sedimentary package unconformably covers Archaean granite greenstone terrain rocks.
Figure 1: Dundas project location
Reported historical exploration in the general area of the Dundas project area has been sporadic, limited and of a reconnaissance nature with exploration having been completed by several companies both in the general area of and over portions of E63/1914. The earliest reports are by Central Norseman Gold Corporation Pty Ltd (1987-1991) who undertook an east-west traverse of exploratory aircore drilling some 10 kilometres to the south of E63/1914. The basement rocks were Archean granite, ultramafic, mafic shists and amphibolite. Base of hole samples were collected and analysed for gold and base metals. No significant results reported to the samples.
Dundas Mining Pty Ltd and Spinifex Gold NL (1994-1998) who undertook a soil geochemical survey and interpretation of aeromagnetic data concluded that some of the granitoids in the area included remnants of partly assimilated greenstone. It was noted that folded greenstones were partly exposed at the Albion gold prospect located 3 kilometres southwest of E63/1914. The historic Albion Gold Mining centre recorded minor gold production at a moderately high grade.
AngloGold Ashanti Australia Limited (2011-2013) completed 12 auger holes in the area, mostly outside of E63/1914 due to the wide spaced nature of the grid. No anomalous responses reported to the associated samples that were taken.
The Dundas project is at the southern extremity of the Norseman Greenstone Belt and is in a stratigraphic/structural setting which hosts historic and producing gold mines. Up to tens of metres of transported soils and colluvium mask prospective Archaean rocks. Possible greenstone rafts within mixed gneissic rocks represent potential targets for mineralisation in the project area. Little reconnaissance soil geochemistry has been undertaken by previous explorers, despite the project area lying north of the Albion gold field and on the Norseman Dislocation, a major structural feature