BODANGORA
Gold, Copper – NSW
Alkane Resources Ltd 100% (subject to 2%NSR and buy back option to Rio Tinto Exploration Pty Limited)

EL 4022 is located 15 km north-east of Wellington, and about 25 km north of Alkane’s Wellington (Galwadgere) prospect.  The tenement includes part of the northern end of the Ordovician aged Molong Volcanic Belt (MVB) before it is covered by younger sediments of the Great Australian Basin.  The MVB hosts the monzonite intrusive gold-copper deposits of the Cadia Valley Operations (~20M oz) of Newcrest and several other advanced exploration projects.

Within the tenement area, the geology is dominated by an andesitic volcanic and volcaniclastic sequence with sporadic monzonitic intrusives.  This sequence is covered by Silurian-Devonian sediments and volcanics while the Nindethana Fault, a major crustal suture, separates the Bodangora area from the Siluro-Devonian Hill End Trough sediments and Carboniferous Wuuluman Granite to the east.

Over several years, Rio Tinto and partners identified a number of geochemical anomalies associated with monzonitic intrusives and have targeted these as Northparkes type porphyry copper-gold models.  Surface geochemistry, shallow aircore and RC drilling have defined several zones of low grade copper-gold mineralisation. 

Alkane’s initial target in the area was structurally controlled gold deposits, exemplified by the historic Bodangora workings, which cover an area of about 2km by 2km.  The main mineralised structure at Bodangora strikes north-west and has been mined over a distance of 1300 metres, to a depth of 300 metres.  The structure is generally evident as narrow high grade quartz veins dipping at 45^o to the north-east.  Historically Bodangora produced nearly 200,000 ounces of gold from 300,000 tonnes of ore in the years 1876 to 1917.  RC drilling of this target gave mixed results and further testing has been deferred in favour of the Comobella area.

To the north of the Bodangora mine area, Rio Tinto outlined several other targets which include skarn mineralisation and an extensive zone of alteration at Comobella where RC drilling has indicated broad intercepts of gold-copper, with narrower high grade values.  Intervals included 18 metres at 0.95g/t gold and 0.15% copper from 64 metres in NKRC 003, with 2 metres grading 5.7g/t gold and 0.44% copper.

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