Thunderstruck Resources has commenced its 2017 exploration program at the Rama Creek and Liwa Creek prospects in Fiji. The current focus is on surface to near-surface gold targets at both prospects with the aim of determining drill targets.
The high-grade Liwa Creek prospect is 6km southeast of the Rama copper-gold porphyry, which is surrounded by an area that has high potential for gold.
A first-pass stream sediment sampling program at Rama Creek was completed recently with 110 samples being collected over an area of 15sqkm. Heavy rain and associated flash flooding forced a temporary abandonment of field operations and the first batch of sample results is now expected from the laboratory before the end of July.
Forty-seven samples have been received by the lab for cyanide leach followed by gold, silver and copper analysis and of these, 22 will be going directly for multi-element analysis. Analytical work on the remaining 63 samples will be governed by the results from the first batch.
The targets in the Rama Creek area are vein-type gold deposits. Recently discovered data of multi-element analysis of 141 stream sediment samples collected by Barringer Fiji Ltd in 1971 have revealed a significant arsenic-antimony anomaly with gold potential.
This anomaly is an east-trending, anomalous arsenic-antimony zone with a length of 4.5km and centred 1600 metres north of a diamond drill hole which returned 244 metres of 0.22% copper and 0.16 g/t gold. Arsenic and antimony are well-known pathfinder elements for epithermal, vein gold, which are commonly developed around such porphyry systems. The arsenic and antimony values may indicate a previously unrecognised gold system.
In addition, Southern Pacific Resources completed approximately 14km of ridge and spur auger soil sampling in 1988. This defined a large gold anomaly, Anomaly A, extending 2500 metres by 1000 metres. This is of interest for gold veins peripheral to the adjacent copper-gold porphyry.
Canadian-based Thunderstruck says the field work at Rama will involve follow-up bulk leach extractable gold (BLEG) sampling; geological and prospecting follow-up of first pass BLEG results; fill-in hand auger sampling at Anomaly A plus deeper auger sampling; and fill-in hand auger sampling at several other small gold and copper anomalies.
Liwa Creek’s historical surface work returned high gold values and some lead, copper and silver values. The anomalous gold zone in the area is 6km by 4km and Thunderstruck will test the more auriferous zones within this area.
This will include regional BLEG sampling; stream sediment sampling designed to test previously located zinc values of up to 0.25% in stream sediments; geological mapping, sampling and trenching of the Liwa Lode and Jensen’s area; and auger soil sampling to test for extensions of Liwa and Jensen’s prospects to the north and south of known limits.
The company has retained the services of Eric Mosley to train local Fijians on the use of its man-portable diamond drill in advance of its anticipated drill program. As results from the field program are received, the company will decide where to mobilize the drill for maximum effectiveness.
Thunderstruck Resources