Angus & Ross plc is a major shareholder of Queensland Gold & Minerals
Ltd (QGM), which owns eight properties in
Australia. QGM listed on Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) on 3rd January 2007. After this IPO Angus and Ross holds 28.2% of QGM's shares and is its largest shareholder. Please visit QGM website for the most up to date news. The project descriptions below are intended as an overview information only.
Seven of QGM's properties are located in north Queensland and one (Warroo) south of Brisbane. Three are on “granted mining leases”, five of them have known alluvial gold deposits, and one alluvial tantalite. There is also an old mine on one of the properties.
In 2005 our Australian operations were restructured and being prepared for an Initial Public Offering and listing on the Australian Stock Exchange. The Independent Experts’ Report prepared by IMC Consultants Pty Ltd in March 2005 valued the operations at 4.5 to 10.5 million Australian dollars.
The eight projects cover ten licence areas totalling 1,154 sq km and nine mining licence areas covering 7.74 sq km . All are 100% owned by QGM.
Queensland Gold & Minerals Ltd has recently raised some mezzanine
finance required to commence trial mining of the alluvials at the
Rutherford’s
Table property. The initial public offering at the Australian Stock
Exchange is expected later in the year.
The properties held by QGM include:
- RUTHERFORDS TABLE (UKALUNDA) Epithermal
quartz – gold – sulphide fragments together with substantial
free gold occur in a 5m thick basal tuffaceous sandstone/grit unit,
which has a lateral extent of 1.5km2. Previous underground
working, recent sampling and limited drilling indicate the potential
for a 1M oz resource within this basal unit as well as
an epithermal gold- sulphide breccia buried beneath this unit. Since
the gold is in a free-state separation by conventional gravity
methods is planned and no cyanide treatment is required. Trial
mining of a bulk section of the basal grit is planned initially
to establish grade.
- GRANTS GULLY – BUCHANAN’S CREEK (GEORGETOWN) A
new tantalite province has been defined from field studies
where both alluvial and hardrock tantalite occur with associated
gold mineralization. Bulk sampling is planned to define
hard-rock drill targets and cheaply recoverable resources initially
to establish tantalite sales contracts with Cabot Corporation
Drilling is planned for the mineralised outcrops to define open
pit resources.
- TOP CAMP (CLONCURRY) This is the site of the
original Cloncurry alluvial gold field - the source of the gold
remaining undiscovered. Potential exists for gold - copper
mineralisation of the Selwyn-style hosted in structurally
controlled ironstones. On QGM’s mining leases the potential
for alluvial gold reserves is considerable but untested, only being
worked in recent years by metal detector prospectors.
- WARROO (TEXAS-INGLEWOOD) Detailed structural
and geophysical interpretations and field mapping have discovered
a mineralised district that could host large bulk tonnage Cu-Au
deposits. New areas of gold – arsenic - bismuth mineralisation
associated with historical copper prospects suggest affinities
to the Cadia or the Alaskan deposits. QGM’s work to date
has attracted Oxiana Limited as a joint venture partner to
spend $4M to earn a majority equity in the project.
- DIGGER’S CREEK (GEORGETOWN) A 10 metre
wide epithermal vein breccia system of 2.5 kms length and partly
covered by barren overlying rocks, has shed significant gold into
local drainages, but surface sampling of the vein has to date only
produced limited evidence of gold in outcrop. The structure is analogous
to Pajingo, Cracow and Woolgar where significant
high grade gold mineralisation is encountered at considerable depths
below the present land surface.
- MALCOLM CREEK (GEORGETOWN) This
is a new discovery of gold in a shallow-dipping sheet of
hydrothermal quartz mylonite. The occurrence of
coarse gold was recently discovered by a prospector using a metal
detector. Previous exploration in the area by CRA defined a gold-in-soil
geochemical anomaly sourced from the rocks immediately overlying
the discovery outcrop. Their drilling was shallow and failed to
penetrate to the thrust horizon but achieved several intersections
of maximum 2m at 9g/t in overlying rocks. The fault sheet outcrops
over tens of kilometres and has never been tested for gold.
- EVELEIGH (MT SURPRISE) A 3.5km2 area
of altered metasediments previously tested for tin, tungsten and
arsenic mineralisation has been partially reassessed over 0.5km2
by QGM, which has confirmed broad gold anomalies in soils. Follow-up
rock chip sampling has indicated economic grade gold mineralisation in altered
quartz - mica host rocks, and has demonstrated the potential
for a large low grade resource like that of Kidston that is located
70 kms to the south.
- WERRINGTON (KIDSTON) Initial research has indicated
a potential target of the Kidston style within
QGM’s exploration area. The target has not been previously
drill tested but is associated with the same regional volcanic
structure as Kidston.
- WALWA (NE VICTORIA) Geological
reinterpretation of the Walwa tinfield and surrounding mineral
occurrences has indicated the potential for new styles of gold
mineralisation for that part of Victoria. Recent mapping and sampling
has shown potential
for Alaskan style “Pogo” deposits (high
grade flat lodes) hosted in metamorphic rocks adjacent to granite
with associated with tin-tungsten–bismuth geochemistry.
For example a sample of altered pegmatite from a quarry in the
area taken by the Victorian Geological Survey assayed 22.4 g/t
Au.
For more information visit QGM’s website at www.qgm.com.au>>
