Cauldron Energy Ltd (ASX:CXU) has appointed highly credentialed geologist Mark Burdett as chief exploration geologist for the Blackwood Gold Project in the goldfields of central Victoria.
This is the latest in a series of appointments as the company builds a team aimed at gaining maximum benefit from Blackwood.
The company’s activities and the apparent strength of the project are creating interest from highly qualified geologists to join the team as they seek to contribute to the development plans.
Burdett is a highly credentialed geologist with a broad range of experience and skills in consulting and operational gold settings.
He is due to begin for Cauldron in August 2021 which aligns with the mobilisation of the underground drilling contractor.
“Suitably qualified”
Cauldron director Jess Oram said: “Cauldron is very fortunate to attract the services of such a suitably qualified and motivated geologist to Cauldron’s Blackwood Gold Project.
“The combination of potential, opportunity and skill unleashed at the Blackwood Gold Project will help build the value of the project and along with it the company.”
Burdett’s experience
Burdett has completed gold-focused structural mapping of macro-fold systems and this is what sparked his interest in helping Cauldron unpick the structural gold puzzle at Blackwood.
This interest along with Burdett’s skillset is expected to assist Cauldron as it seeks to unlock the potential gold mineralisation proved by historical production in the region.
Part of this puzzle is identifying and targeting the high-grade plunges downdip from the historical production from the Blackwood Project ‘line of lode’, the reef system that extends more than 3.5 kilometres in length and which is dotted with numerous shafts sunk in the 1860s.
Building team
The new recruit will join consultant Stewart Govett and new exploration manager Asha Rao, and together the team will build on the work Govett has done to compile and interpret the historic data which has laid the platform from which this technical combination can build.
Burdett’s addition to the Cauldron team is important, with his rare combination of industry and academic methodologies in structurally controlled gold systems.
Upcoming approved program
In its upcoming approved program, the company aims to target high-grade plunges of gold mineralisation interpreted to lie below historical production at the Blackwood Project.
For the first time in a generation, Cauldron’s technical team has the opportunity to view these historically isolated operations under one ownership.
Oram said: “We are excited to build towards the upcoming underground drilling using the fantastic drill platform offered by the Tyrconnel and the project.”
The Blackwood Gold Project is in Victoria’s highly productive ‘Golden Triangle’ having exceptional opportunity to extend the ore shoots abandoned by past miners.
In addition, there is potential to discover new gold ore shoots lying proximal to the underground tunnel system left by historical mining activity.