Confidence is growing in the Bauloora epithermal project in the Lachlan Fold Belt region of New South Wales after Legacy Minerals announced promising geophysical results.
Analysis of satellite hyperspectral data identified nine new ‘lookalike’ hydrothermal alteration anomalies, which are interpreted to be consistent with known gold-silver bearing low sulphidation epithermal veins mapped elsewhere at Bauloora within a 15km2 ‘gold zone’.
The ‘gold zone’ is defined by rock chip findings of at least 0.2 grams per tonne (g/t) gold.
Legacy Minerals identified a further 27 anomalies from the analysis that are consistent with signatures of low and intermediate sulphidation epithermal gold-silver mineral systems.
Such patterns could suggest potential for additional epithermal mineralised systems within the company’s regional exploration licence.
“This is the first time satellite spectral data has been acquired and interpreted over Bauloora and we are greatly impressed with the results,” Legacy Minerals technical director Thomas Wall said.
“Legacy Minerals has employed modern ‘smarter’ exploration techniques across its tenure to screen the whole project systematically for unidentified opportunities and to focus on the key targets, reducing time and expenditure.
“The results from the ASTER (advanced spaceborne thermal emission) data have supported the interpretation of the Bauloora epithermal project’s potential to host significant gold-silver epithermal deposits.”
Wall said Legacy Minerals had identified a “strong and coherent” 48km2 propylitic signature in the centre of its Bauloora tenure, which potentially demonstrates the effects of a large, buried magmatic system.
“Encouragingly, broad windows of advanced argillic to argillic alteration associated with strong silica responses suggest areas of high-level acid alteration that have never been visited or worked by previous explorers,” Wall said.
Legacy Minerals is focused on incorporating the ASTER data with other geoscientific datasets to build a detailed system model prior to further on-ground reconnaissance work.
The company is also nearing the completion of a geochemical soil program targeting a number of these newly identified anomalies, with results soon to be received.