White Rock Minerals Ltd (ASX:WRM, OTCQX:WRMCF) continues to enhance its confidence in the gold prospectivity of the recently acquired Woods Point Gold Project in Victoria, Australia and is formalising a systematic regional exploration program.
After completing the merger with Austar Gold in August 2021, White Rock has been reviewing its commanding 660 square kilometre tenement package in the Walhalla Synclinorium, encompassing the Woods Point goldfield.
Review highlights
This has highlighted several key factors confirming White Rock’s view of the region’s gold exploration prospectivity and has helped the company with plans for exploration going into 2022.
The review reveals that Woods Point contains 197, or 60%, of the 320 known historic primary gold mineral occurrences within the Walhalla Synclinorium with 95% of all historic production outside the three major deposits - Walhalla, Morning Star and A1.
Systematic assessment
MD and CEO Matt Gill said: “The Walhalla Synclinorium is host to an estimated 6 million ounces of gold production and White Rock controls a 660 square kilometre tenement covering the core area.
"We are committed to systematically assessing our significant tenement package using modern exploration methods to identify targets with the potential to host million-ounce gold quartz reef deposits.
"Our land package contains 197 of the 320 gold mineral occurrences recorded in the Synclinorium, with 73 gold deposits recording production at >10 g/t gold, of which 34 are >30 g/t. The majority of these have never been drilled with only eight gold prospects in White Rock’s exploration tenements having records of drilling.”
Simplified geology (from VandenBerg et al., 2006) over the Walhalla, Woods Point and Tallangallook goldfields highlighting the Walhalla Synclinorium.
Of the 73 mineral occurrences with recorded production grades >10 g/t gold there are 34 occurrences >30 g/t and 22 occurrences >60 g/t while there are multiple historic mines with significant production that have never been drilled.
The majority of the historic mining was restricted to levels above the water table, usually less than 100 metres vertically, except for the three major deposits.
Drilling plans
White Rock has identified the Wallaby-Eldorado-Shakespeare trend as a high priority target with Wallaby ready for drill testing in 2022, subject to an approved work plan.
This target is a dyke bulge with similar width and quartz reef development to Morning Star and has never been drilled.
The overall Wallaby-Eldorado-Shakespeare trend extends for more than 2,000 metres with the potential for a large dyke host to be defined in multiple dyke bulge positions or as a continuous structure.
Historic production records for these three historic mines indicate that 24,000 ounces of gold was produced with Eldorado recording production at a grade of 75 g/t.
Surface mapping and prospecting along strike to the south over the Eldorado and Shakespeare mines will proceed while drilling takes place at Wallaby to better understand the overall strike extent and size potential of this area.
The company has also started planning orientation surface geochemistry and geophysics across known dyke bulges hosting gold mineralisation. Orientation data will then be used to design a systematic surface geochemistry and airborne geophysics program aimed at identifying new priority targets.
“Potential upside”
"As the first modern explorers on historically proven ground, we see great potential upside from this exploration program and look forward to progressing our plans during 2022, starting with the Wallaby-Eldorado-Shakespeare trend,” Gill added.
White Rock is committed to assessing the Walhalla Synclinorium using modern exploration methods not used at the Woods Point Gold Project previously, and to apply this disciplined approach systematically to identify targets that have the potential to host million-ounce gold quartz reef deposits.
The company has commenced the process to permit drilling at Wallaby with 5-10 kilometres of track access being planned.
Drilling will look to test the grade and continuity of quartz reefs within the dyke to depths of 500 metres, with particular emphasis on testing the western dyke margin quartz reef for its potential to yield continuity and grade similar to the Cohens Reef at Walhalla.