Aruma Resources innovative approach to exploration is already paying dividends with the explorer racing to peg two new tenements at its Melrose project on the southern margin of the Pilbara. The applications were made hot on the heels of the company’s regional evaluation identifying new zones of gold mineralisation.
The Melrose project surrounds Northern Star’s revered Paulsen’s gold mine, and the Aruma exploration team are hoping to unearth a similar company-making deposit.
Aruma’s Melrose project lies on the southern margin of the Pilbara approximately 180km west of the iron ore town of Paraburdoo in Western Australia. The project is made of 7 exploration licenses that cover more than 180 square kilometres of the ground surrounding the million-ounce Paulsen’s gold mine – the tenure also covers a remarkable 22km strike of the auriferous Nanjilgardy Fault Zone.
The company’s evaluation of the Melrose region continues to highlight new gold prospects, adding multiple targets for future exploration as it sets its sights on unearthing the next million-ounce mine. Aruma’s ongoing evaluation has resulted in new applications being lodged for two additional tenements covering areas of anomalous gold mineralisation with results including rock chips from quartz veins grading up to 1.74 g/t gold.
The high-grade Paulsen’s gold mine was originally mined in the 1930’s with small tonnages of free-milling ore being extracted at an impressive average grade of 12 g/t gold. The mine had its second genesis in 2005 with the operation producing around 75,000 ounces of gold a year prior to the fledgling Northern Star purchasing the mine in 2010.
Northern Star’s application of modern mining techniques at Paulsen’s resulted in the operation boosting its production to 100,000 ounces per annum and becoming the company’s own ‘piggy bank’. Paulsen’s provided the initial funding for Northern Star’s aggressive expansion program, which over the past 10 years has seen it rise to the top of the list of ASX gold producers.
Northern Star is now jostling for the title of Australia’s largest gold producer, with a market capitalisation of over $10 billion and annual gold production heading towards 1 million ounces per annum. An inspiring model for Aruma to emulate and it all started at Paulsen’s.
The mineralisation at Paulsen’s is associated with a gabbroic dyke that has been intruded into the sedimentary country rock bringing with it gold hosted in both quartz veining and sulphides - it’s repetitions of this style of gold mineralisation that Aruma is hunting on its Melrose ground.
Aruma’s initial program is focused on the identification of targets across its extensive ground holding. The company has kicked off an innovative program of geophysics and remote sensing aimed at identifying the signature of the alteration associated with gold deposits in the region.
Aruma is testing a blend of thermal mineral mapping with radar conductivity, to target gold over the Melrose project. The company’s initial target area extends north from Paulsen’s into the company’s northern tenement blocks, covering more than 80 square kilometres of prospective gold ground including the Gossan Hill targets.
First pass exploration at Melrose has identified 6 priority target areas associated with splays of the Nanjilgardy Fault, including the Paulsen’s North, Gossan Hill, and Belvedere prospects.
Aruma’s trail blazing approach on the southern margin of the Pilbara is bringing home the bacon, with its strategic ground holding continuing to grow and exploration presenting an abundance of gold targets for field testing.
Is your ASX listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Matt Birney
