Waratah Minerals on trail of next Macquarie Arc gold-copper giant

Waratah Minerals is stepping up exploration at the Spur copper-gold project in NSW, just 5km west of the massive Cadia Valley Operations of Newmont.

A third rig has been added to Waratah’s exploration program to rapidly grow resources and fast-track step-out drilling at the Spur gold-copper project. Pic: Getty Images

Special Report: With three drill rigs turning, Waratah Minerals is ramping up exploration at its Spur gold-copper project, an emerging discovery already showing the kind of geological markers seen in the multi-million-ounce Cowal and Boda systems. 

• Waratah is drilling at Spur to test epithermal gold zones and investigate a potential link with a gold-copper porphyry system 
• The next exploration phase will see extensional drilling along the Spur gold corridor and further activity at Breccia West porphyry discovery
• Investors can expect steady news flow in the coming months 

Waratah Minerals (ASX:WTM) has a dual focus at Spur with two rigs targeting a large epithermal gold system, while a third rig — the second diamond drill — is set to return to Breccia West prospect to follow up promising porphyry intercepts such as 108m grading 0.52% copper and 0.22g/t gold from surface to end of hole.

Exploration has outlined a broad zone of epithermal stringer mineralisation, accompanied by porphyry-style alteration – characteristics consistent with the upper levels of a larger porphyry system, akin to those found elsewhere in the Macquarie Arc of the Lachlan Fold Belt. 

The company has been drilling on the edge of the major Cargo Intrusive complex, and focusing on the shoulders of that structure, a mere 5km west from Newmont’s (ASX:NEM) Cadia Valley gold and copper operations.

Location of the Spur project. Pic: Waratah Minerals

Waratah, previously named Battery Minerals, acquired Spur 14 months ago guided by a well-defined exploration strategy based on the deep regional expertise of its personnel. 

This includes Waratah managing director Peter Duerden, whose previous roles span senior exploration management positions with Newcrest Mining and Alkane Resources (ASX:ALK), where he was in charge of the North Molong Belt alkalic porphyry gold-copper exploration for 10 years. 

He also contributed significantly to the 2019 Boda porphyry gold-copper discovery of Alkane in that belt, which boasts a resource of 796Mt at 0.58g/t gold equivalent and with considerable growth potential.

Listen: Peter Duerden chats with Barry FitzGerald

In a previous instalment of the Explorers Podcast, host Barry FitzGerald looks to NSW's Lachlan Ford Belt, where Waratah Minerals is busy on the ground at its wholly owned Spur gold-copper project.

Drivers of mineralisation in Lachlan Fold Belt 

Sitting down with Stockhead’s Barry FitzGerald, Duerden said the company was setting out to test an idea where it saw a large epithermal gold system connected to a porphyry. 

“You have to be in and amongst one of these intrusive complexes in the Macquarie Arc if you’ve got any chance of finding something significant and we certainly have one of those,” he said. 

“But what we are doing differently than previous groups is we’re very much focused on the shoulders of that complex and we’re finding it is the focus of gold and copper in the district.” 

Drawing on information from his time spent with Alkane in the Lachlan Fold Belt, Duerden said he had learnt over a long period of time what the controls of mineralisation were in the district. 

“Geologists who have worked in a belt of rocks for a long time, essentially, they have failed to discover lots of times, and in doing so have learnt what arethe  important indicators and controls onfmineralisation. 

“It is one of the fundamental controls on Macquarie Arc - East Lachlan porphyry systems – all of the economic orebodies are in that setting off the shoulder of the intrusive complexes,” he said. 

Duerden said Spur was a perfect example where both styles of mineralisation – epithermal and porphyry – existed together in the one district. 

“Often in districts around the Macquarie Arc you’ll see one or the other dominating, here we  see evidence for both, and the hypothesis is that there is a connection genetically and spatially between the two styles of mineralisation.” 

A year of drilling hints to signs of a discovery 

Having undertaken 18,000m of drilling to test this idea over the last 12 months, Duerden believes the company is onto an emerging discovery at the project. 

“We’re getting very busy on the ground and getting more confident in our targeting,” he said. 

But for a junior company in today’s gold market, the focus has been on the shallow, epithermal mineralisation along the Spur gold corridor where the best drill results have been received to date, including 11m grading 10.82g/t/ gold from 154m. 

Duerden described the recent $8.4m capital raise as the company’s strongest to date, underpinned by robust institutional backing and overwhelming investor support to accelerate exploration at Spur. 

“It puts us in a great position to determine the nature and scale do a lot of drilling at a time when the technical team on the ground is really starting to get its eye in on the controls on high-grade gold zones and the relationship with porphyries associated with it,” he said. 

The next phase of exploration will see ongoing extensional drilling along the Spur gold corridor, as well as further activity at the Breccia West porphyry copper-gold discovery. 

He said investors could look forward to steady news flow in the months ahead, with a third rig ramping up resource growth, advancing step-out drilling, and targeting both near-surface epithermal gold and deeper porphyry gold-copper systems with diamond drilling.

This article was developed in collaboration with Waratah Minerals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing. 

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

Originally published as Waratah Minerals on trail of next Macquarie Arc gold-copper giant