Media & articles

18 March 2021

Boadicea Resources keen to test dome-like structure at Koongulla as early as possible

The recent aero-magnetic survey of Boadicea’s Koongulla project has identified a number of significant interpreted features.

In an interview with Andrew Scott of Proactive Investors, Boadicea Resources Managing Director Jon Reynolds says the 5230 line kilometres flown in the aero-magnetic survey were flown at a spacing of 100m.

“It’s the first ever exploration in this part of the Paterson Province and the work has identified a number of significant interpreted features including some complex structural zones which are interesting in themselves,” Jon Reynolds said.

Listen and watch the interview here 🎥

Of highest priority is the potential for a large dome like structure.

Within the Paterson Province there are a number of dome features that are a focus for copper gold mineralisation.

The largest of these is the Telfer deposit which contains 32Moz Au, 1Mt copper. The Telfer dome has a north-east / south-west orientated dome with a strike length of about 7km.

“By comparison, the interpreted dimension of the Koongulla dome feature is about 7km and has a NW-SE orientation, so the similarity is obvious.

“Other significant dome features in the Paterson Province include the Calibre and Magnum deposits which are 1.6Moz, 127kt Cu and Minyari which is 500koz Au and 23Kt Cu.

“These all represent significant sources of gold and copper mineralisation and all associated with dome features,” Jon Reynolds says.

The other key information from the geophysics is the potential depth to basement. The east side of the Paterson Province has been thought of as being too deep for exploration but around the dome feature the advice is that the depths could be 200-250m.

“This is significantly within our targeting range and compares favourably with the Newcrest/Greatland Gold Havieron project which is more than 400m below the surface.”

Havieron is about 80km to the south of Koongulla and is currently being developed by Newcrest with an underground decline.

History of Koongulla

During the middle of the COVID lockdown the board / management began looking for new opportunities. Initially this was by reviewing regions in Australia that provided potential for large scale / high value gold-copper projects.

The Paterson Province is one of the hottest regions in Australia with significant exploration expenditure.

Boadicea initially picked up Koongulla on the east side of the Province.

“We thought it would be too deep for high quality exploration, but our initial review of the data indicated the potential for some significant structural features.

“Based on this we doubled our licence area with Koongulla North and more recently we have added Koongulla East. Taking our total area (granted and applications) to 600sqkm.

The Paterson province is a significant region for large scale copper gold deposits. The largest of these is the Telfer deposit which is located about 80km south-west of Koongulla and is sediment hosted.

Havieron is an intrusion related copper-gold deposit and Winu, owned by Rio Tinto, is currently being fast tracked to production 500mt @ 0.45% Cu.

Significance of Koongulla results for Boadicea

Koongulla provides Boadicea a second high value exploration target outside of the Fraser Range targets which IGO is currently exploring with drilling to planned to start in 2021 Q2.

Furthermore, it provides a primary exploration target that could be of significance within the Paterson Province.

How does Boadicea compare it its peers in the Paterson Province?

Rumble Resources is also exploring for dome features in the Paterson Province. It is slightly more advanced than Boadicea and has three times the market cap.

A number of significant joint ventures have been struck between junior explorers and major mining companies and seems to be the ‘modus operandi’ for the region. Majors include, Rio Tinto, IGO, Newcrest, and Fortescue.

“Whilst at this stage we plan to advance to project ourselves, the opportunity for a significant joint venture is evident and puts us on the map as a significant explorer for large scale / high value targets,” Jon Reynolds says.

Where to from here for Koongulla

Part of the Koongulla interpreted dome structure is within the new licence application area and therefore isn’t covered by the aero mags so Boadicea is planning to fill in the gap and planning is under way to do this work.

“We’re entering discussions for completion of a heritage agreement and a heritage survey. Gravity will be the first ground-based activity in the region and we are looking to complete that as soon as we have completed all the requirements under a heritage agreement.

“Subject to the successful completion of the gravity survey there is a possibility of drilling within 2021.

“With the IGO exploration in the Fraser Range and the Orion extension adjacent to the Nova nickel mine and the recent developments of the Koongulla, the next 6 – 8 months is looking to be a very exciting period for the company,” Jon Reynolds says.