May/June 2013 - The ASIA Miner

Papua New Guinea
Mincor begins field exploration at Bolobip
Drilling near the Edie Creek exploration camp in the Morobe goldfields.
A MAJOR field exploration program is under
way at the Bolobip copper-gold porphyry project
site of Australian nickel producer Mincor Resources.
Ground preparations are complete and
an exploration camp has been constructed at
the project, which is 72% owned by Mincor.
The field exploration activities will be supplemented
by airborne and ground geophysics
which include induced polarization (IP) surveys
and heli-borne magnetics. Mincor says the
program will be completed by July 2013.
Bolobip is a large coincident copper-gold anomaly
in a multi-phase intrusive environment,
about 60km east of the world-class, large porphyry
copper-gold mine of Ok Tedi. Initial studies
have suggested that it has affinities to porphyry-style
mineralization with similarities to Ok
Tedi. The geochemical anomaly is about 1km
in diameter and has never been drilled.
The prospect was discovered through regional
stream-sediment sampling by CRA in the
late 1980s. CRA conducted several rounds of
surface geochemical mapping, sampling and
trenching, but no geophysics nor drilling. The
prospect has received little attention since CRA
pulled out of PNG in the 1990s.
“Mincor’s intention is to confirm the porphyry
characterization of the target through
field mapping and alteration studies, and to
generate drill targets through the use of IP,
which is capable of identifying disseminated
sulphide mineralization, and a magnetic survey.
Any targets identified would be ready for
drilling either late in the current financial year
or early in the new financial year,” says Mincor’s
managing director David Moore.
The company has moved its focus to the
Bolobip site after completing its exploration
activities at the Edie Creek project, which is
in the Morobe goldfields of PNG.
Mincor’s exploration program included
blanket soil sampling and ground magnetics,
detailed mapping, trenching and sampling,
and a 12-hole diamond drilling program.
Assay results from the drilling included 6 metres
@ 1.39 grams/tonne gold and 23.7
grams/tonne silver from 13 metres and 0.9
metres @ 1.27 grams/tonne gold and 106
grams/tonne silver from 65 metres.
David Moore says while the exploration has
clearly demonstrated the presence of an epithermal
and mesothermal gold system at
Edie Creek, the company’s interpretation is
that this system is widely dispersed, and likely
to have generated numerous small gold deposits
rather than a single, viable ore deposit.
As a result, Mincor has elected to cease expenditure
on the project.
Coppermoly resumes Makmak exploration
EXPLORATION has re-commenced on Coppermoly’s
Makmak tenement on the south
coast of New Britain Island. The program is
designed to follow up exploration activity carried
out in quarter 4 of 2012 and is associated
with aeromagnetic modelling of MK004
and MK005 anomalies, elevated grab sample
assays from the Pulding copper prospect,
and enriched ferruginous mineralization from
Wara Creek, near MK005.
The Makmak tenement is accessible via
4WD vehicle along logging tracks from
Kimbe, the provincial capital of West New Britain,
on the north coast of the island. During
March and early April access to the site was
hampered due to inclement weather and problematic
river crossings.
With primary chalcopyrite exposed at surface,
the proposed exploration program at Pulding
prospect will focus on trenching/channel sampling
to determine the relative extents of local
base metal mineralization. Where appropriate,
samples will be collected for petrographic and
magnetic susceptibility analysis as well. Given
recent adverse weather, the timing of trenching
work will be subject to the availability of suitable
equipment and site accessibility.
Computer modelling at the Wara Creek
prospect indicates a large magnetic source
underlying the MK004 anomaly, which also
straddles a major topographic lineament. Detailed
prospecting and mapping is currently
planned for this broad anomalous zone.
High grade magnetite/martite (hematite) breccia
samples have been collected at Wara Creek.
The proposed sampling and mapping program
will prospect for similar ferruginous mineralization
in creeks between Wara Creek and Pulding,
as well as the ridge separating these creeks and
overlying the MK005 aeromagnetic anomaly.
Meanwhile, results from drilling at Coppermoly’s
Nakru prospect on New Britain have
confirmed further high-grade mineralization.
Best results are 26 metres @ 0.11% copper
and 0.12 grams/tonne gold from 3 metres
and 43 metres @ 0.94% copper and 0.35
grams/tonne gold from 107 metres.
“These results improve the confidence in
the boundaries and the geological model for
the known mineralization which defines the
north-western margins of the Nakru-1 prospect,”
says Coppermoly’s managing director
Maurice Gannon.
Barrick PNG Exploration has spent Aus$24.6
million on the Simuku, Nakru and Talelumas tenements
within the West New Britain project under
an agreement with Coppermoly, which has rejected
an offer of Aus$13million from a private equity
group to purchase the projects. The Board considered
the offer wasn’t in the best interests of
shareholders. It is however, pursuing a number of
options for the ongoing exploration and future development
of the company’s PNG assets.
50 | ASIA Miner | May/June 2013