Erlistoun Project

M 38/561 & P 38/3013 (Eagle Metals 100%)

Introduction

The Erlistoun project is composed of one granted prospecting license, P 38/3103, and one mining lease application, M 38/561. The tenements cover an area of 550.5 hectares in the Duketon Greenstone belt, 67 kilometres to the north of Laverton (see Figure A), in the Northeastern Goldfields of Western Australia and lie adjacent the historical workings at 'Erlistoun'.

Location & Access

M 38/561 & P 38/3013 are located some 760 kilometres to the northeast of Perth and sixty-seven kilometres to the north of Laverton (see Figure 6.1). The project is accessed via the Laverton-Bandya road, which runs along the western side of the project area. Access within the project is via pastoral station tracks and historical mining tracks.

Previous Exploration

The 'Erlistoun Line' is a series of historical gold mines that include the Erlistoun Queen, Battler & Caledonia. These mines were operated at various times between 1900 and 1955 and were of particularly high grade, over 30 gpt Au (see Figure 6.2).

The project area was initially explored as part of the Erlistoun-Baneygo regional project, held by Cominco Exploration Pty Ltd. Exploration was undertaken for copper, zinc & nickel, between 1966 and 1973. An extensive work programme was executed and included geological mapping, geophysics, stream sediment, soil/auger geochemistry and percussion drilling.

Pennzoil of Australia Ltd then explored the project area between 1977 and 1978 for copper-zinc mineralisation, however exploration was limited to geological mapping and rock chipping.

Carpentaria Exploration Company PL explored the regional area between 1978 and 1979. Carpentaria undertook a programme of geological mapping, rock chipping and auger sampling for both gold and base metals.

The Ogilvies/Erlistoun area was explored for gold between 1981 and 1991 by a number of companies including Cesium International PL & Esmeralda Exploration Ltd. Initial work included rock chipping around the workings of the Erlistoun line and generated results of up to 165 gpt Au. This work was followed up with RC drilling below the main Erlistoun workings and generated a number of anomalous results, which included:

• RO 012 2m @ 4.3 gpt Au

In March of 1987 Esmeralda conducted a programme of 716 shallow RAB holes (less than three metres deep) through the Erlistoun mining area. This drilling was undertaken on a 20 x 80 metre grid and generated a number of anomalous results. Esmeralda followed this shallow drilling up, twelve months later in March of 1988, with a programme of deeper RAB drilling.

Esmeralda drilled 49 RAB holes with a better results including:

• 88RO 045 1m @ 22.6 gpt Au
• 88RO 048 6m @ 11.1 gpt Au

In June of 1988 Esmeralda followed up the deeper RAB drilling with a further 7 RAB holes and 4 RC holes, results included:

• 88RC 050 3m @ 2.55 gpt Au
• 88RC 053 1m @ 2.15 gpt Au

Unfortunately much of the Esmeralda exploration was undertaken on a local grid, which has proved difficult to accurately locate on the ground, therefore whether all of these results apply to the Birimian Gold project area is as yet unknown.

Ashton Gold Ltd explored the northern project area for gold from 1990 to 1993. Initial exploration included rock chipping and stream sediment sampling, which generated results of up to 192 ppb Au within the project area. This prompted Ashton to undertake a programme of soil sampling in the northern project area, which confirmed this gold anomalism and generated targets for RAB drilling. Ashton proceeded with a programme of 54 angled.

RAB drill holes in 1993 and generated a number of anomalous results including:

• ER 034 4m @ 2.50 gpt Au
• ER 052 2m @ 3.26 gpt Au

Sons of Gwalia Ltd. undertook the most recent exploration within the project area, following up the drilling undertaken by Ashton Gold Ltd. Gwalia's work programme included a regional RAB drilling programme and follow up RC drilling. This drilling generated the Budgerigar prospect in the northern project area (see Figure 6.2).

Better results have included:

• ACC 580 4m @ 14.02 gpt Au
• ACC 585 2m @ 2.01 gpt Au

This phase of drilling has yet to be fully evaluated, but follow up drill testing will be required.

Geological Settings

Regional Geology

The Erlistoun project is located in the Northeastern Goldfields of Western Australia and covers an area within the northeastern quadrant of the Mount Varden 1:100 000 GSWA Map Sheet. The tenements overlie the Mt. Varden Transfer, the fault contact between an amphibolite facies intermediate and sedimentary sequence in the west and a sequence of ultramafic, mafic and intermediate volcanic stratigraphy in the east. The tenements are also adjacent to the historical 'Erlistoun Line' of mine workings.

Prospect Geology

The geology is a predominantly sub to outcropping interlayered sequence of felsic-intermediate volcanics, with some interflow ultramafic and mafic units; there is an increasing colluvial cover in the western tenement area. Sub to outcropping quartz veins also occur throughout the tenement areas.

Mineralisation & Resource Potential

The 'Erlistoun Line' is a series of historical gold mines that include the Erlistoun Queen, Battler & Caledonia. These mines were operated at various times between 1900 and 1955 and were of particularly high grade, over 30 gpt Au. The production from these mines totaled over 1915 tonnes @ 28.6 gpt Au (1761 oz).

Exploration by groups such as Esmeralda, Ashton Gold and Sons of Gwalia has continued to generate encouraging results throughout the project area. It is of note that most of the anomalous drill assays are at depths of less than 50 metres.

The data for this drilling is currently being acquired and compiled into a database to aid in future exploration.