THE discovery of gold more than 100 years ago to the south of Port Hedland sparked a 20-year gold rush in the Pilbara.
THE discovery of gold more than 100 years ago to the south of Port Hedland sparked a 20-year gold rush in the Pilbara.
Interest in these deposits was tempered to a significant degree, however, following the discovery of more accessible gold at Kalgoorlie and surrounds not long after.
But miners are now returning their focus to the Pilbara, and not just for gold or the region’s staple, iron ore. Nickel and platinum potential are also attracting explorers’ attention.
The region has been relatively under-explored because of a lack of obvious geological indicators, combined with the harsh weather conditions.
Last year’s Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources geological survey released a set of geological notes on the West Pilbara region that outlined the ancient region’s unique nature.
While the West Pilbara is extremely old, it is also very well preserved, meaning that many of the mineral deposits in the area are some of the best examples anywhere.
The region’s attractiveness to the mining industry is based not only on its prospectivity, but also its proximity to Port Hedland and other infrastructure, including the North West Highway and a gas pipeline running to the nearby Sons Of Gwalia Wodgina tantalum mine.
Several junior explorers have recently become active in the tightly held region.
Specifically, many are exploring an area under an hour’s drive south-west of Port Hedland, not far from Straits Resource’s soon-to-be-commissioned Whim Creek copper mine.
Among these explorers are: Melbourne-based pollster Gary Morgan’s Haoma Mining; local gold producer Troy Resources, and joint venture partner, the re-listed Lach Drummond Resources; Aquila Resources; Independence Gold; Range River Resources; Bullion Minerals; and De Grey Mining.
Market watchers are particularly interested in the progress of Dennis O’Meara’s De Grey Mining, Melbourne-based Range River Resources and Tim Goyder’s Bullion Minerals.
The stock price of each of these companies has soared on the back of positive drilling results from the area.
All have been producing significant gold hits from drilling neighbouring tenements around a geological formation known as the Mallina Shear Zone, located about 80 kilometres south-west of Port Hedland.
De Grey is also having success with platinum and nickel finds in the same area.
Perth stockbroker Hartleys says that: “Based on the results published by Range River Gold at Indee, Bullion Minerals at Yandeearra and De Grey Mining at Wingina Well/Turner River, the West Pilbara region has the potential to become a new Western Australian gold province”.
Hartleys senior resource analyst Kevin Tomlinson said the province was very exciting with “an awful lot of drilling going on at the moment”.
He said stock was moving as “more and more people were getting wind” of the potential of the area.
It now appears Range River Gold, Bullion Minerals and De Grey Mining are competing to prove-up commercial reserves in the area.
De Grey Mining has been best able to capture the market’s attention with last Dceember’s results from its Wingina Well/ Turner River gold discoveries.
Its share price has gone from around 12 cents since listing in July 2002 to a high of 70 cents at the end of 2003. It now sits around 57 cents.
Last week, Range River Gold, in joint venture with Bullion Minerals, released the latest resource estimate of 3.2 million tonnes grading 2.7gpt gold for 281,000 ounces for the Indee project.
From July last year to earlier this month, Range River’s share price almost quadrupled to 38 cents. It is now sitting at around 35 cents.
Bullion’s share price has also increased dramatically, from 5.2 cents mid-way through last year to 25 cents earlier this month.
The announcement takes the project a step closer to proving up a minimum oxide resource of 250,000 ounces, which would enable a five-year, 50,000 ounce-a-year mine.
Range River says the region’s results are encouraging it to investigate the possibility of constructing a mill with the potential to serve the region.
De Grey managing director Dennis O’Meara said the Pilbara’s potential to become a major gold producing region was only emerging now because of a fundamental lack of exploration in the past.
He said there was very little gold at the surface, but with modern geological techniques the region’s possibilities were at last being revealed.
Mr O’Meara said De Grey’s discovery was significant and it and others would have a positive flow-on effect for the region.
He said that, although the Pilbara was already a big iron ore producer, with other intermittent mining ventures, more variety was needed.
“There is no major gold situation in that half of the Pilbara block, whereas in similar geology in other parts of the world you’ve got dozens of them,” Mr O’Meara said.
