Region’s miners strike rich vein
TOWNSVILLE region mining players are striking gold and copper and reporting record production as base metal prices soar on world exchanges.
Great Northern Minerals, which is exploring the Camel Creek gold project about 200km northwest of the city, released impressive assay results this week.
They include 6m at 19.71g per tonne gold from 124m down.
Camel Creek is one of three historic mines in the area which produced more than 150,000 ounces at an average grade of 1.91g per tonne.
Great Northern picked up the leases from the estate of the late Sir Mick Curtain whose companies operated mines in the area during the 1990s.
Great Northern’s key North Queensland gold projects include Camel Creek and nearby Golden Cup, in the Kangaroo Hills area about 215km northwest of Townsville, and Big Rush Gold, about 60km southwest of Greenvale.
Great Northern Minerals managing director Cameron Mclean said its assays results provided a more accurate reading of the high grade Camel Creek gold system.
“We continue to be very encouraged by the results we are achieving at Camel Creek and are confirming this system that saw gold mined at surface continues at depth and along strike,” Mr Mclean said.
The company is starting diamond drilling and will release an initial Camel Creek resource estimate later this year.
It says the project has the potential to be a substantial gold project.
Another explorer, Sunshine
Gold, says it has confirmed a large-scale copper-molybdenum system at its Titov prospect in Ravenswood West near the historic mining town which is now being developed into Queensland’s biggest gold mine.
Sunshine Gold managing director Damien Keys said they were encouraged by the potential of Titov and would continue geophysical surveys, diamond drilling and soil sampling.
Titov is the first of a suite of c o p p e r - m o l y b d e n u m prospects to be tested along a 15km stretch.
Further west at Thalanga near Charters Towers, Red River Resources is reporting record September quarter production of copper and outstanding high-grade polymetallic results at its nearby Liontown deposit.
The company plans to develop Liontown as its third deposit to come on line next year.
For the quarter, Thalanga produced 7539 tonnes of zinc concentrate, 1984 tonnes of lead concentrate and 4411 tonnes of copper concentrate.
Chairman Brett Fletcher says Thalanga is generating strong cash flow, while the company has reported a $21m net profit after tax in 2020-21.
It comes as copper and zinc prices have more than doubled over the past year and gold prices remain at record highs