Taiton Resources Ltd is accelerating its mineral exploration efforts and opening production pathways across Australia, emphasising the development and discovery of significant mineral deposits.
The company's strategic focus lies in exploring and developing projects within New South Wales, South Australia, and Western Australia, each selected for their significant mineral potential (Figure 1).
Figure 1 : Taiton Portfolio ( Source: Taiton Website)
In New South Wales, the Kingsgate Molybdenum and High-Purity Quartz project, acquired in January 2024, stands out as a key asset.
Previously operating as a high-grade Molybdenum-Bismuth mine, Kingsgate is poised for a return to production under Taiton’s stewardship, aiming to capitalise on its historical success.
In the renowned Olympic Dam province of South Australia, Taiton Resources is advancing the Highway Project.
With exploration activities ramping up since early 2023, the project holds potential for uncovering large-scale, economically viable deposits of molybdenum, gold and Ni-cu-PGE (Nickel – copper -platinum group elements).
Also in South Australia, the Challenger West Project is exploring high-grade gold and other minerals, including Uranium and Rare Earth Elements.
Located in the established Challenger Gold province, this project has demonstrated promising preliminary results through studies and exploratory fieldwork, suggesting a strong potential for significant mineral discoveries.
The Lake Barlee Project in Western Australia is another strategic endeavour by Taiton, focusing on gold exploration.
The project is modelled on the geological features of the well-known 2.6-million-ounce Big Bell deposit, located in the Cue region, indicating substantial prospects for gold findings.
Moving forward, Taiton has kicked off its 2024 exploration program with sampling programs initiated across its Highway and Challenger West Projects – which will remain its focus.
Kingsgate High-Grade Molybdenum Project
The Kingsgate Project, positioned within the prolific New England, spans over 15,000 square kilometres across northern New South Wales and south-eastern Queensland.
This exploration territory, a mere 20 kilometres east of Glen Innes and approximately 600 km north of Sydney benefits from its proximity to significant infrastructure and accessibility via major highways (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Kingsgate Project location (Source: ASX release)
Historically, this region has been a significant producer of tin and molybdenum, with estimated historical outputs of 300,000 tonnes of tin and 450 tonnes of molybdenum, primarily during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The geological framework of Kingsgate features two primary rock units: the Kingsgate Leucogranite and the Red Range Microleucogranite.
These formations are crucial to the area's mineralisation, hosting a diverse array of metal deposits including molybdenum, bismuth, tungsten, and tin.
The landscape is notably punctuated by 109 molybdenum-bismuth quartz pipes, which are aligned in clusters along the eastern margin of the granite, suggesting a highly fractionated magmatic environment conducive to rich mineral deposits.
Extensive exploration activities have been undertaken by Auzex Resources Limited between 2005 and 2010, following earlier explorations by entities such as Carpentaria Exploration Co. and A.O.G. Minerals.
Auzex’s comprehensive exploration programme encompassed detailed geological mapping, rock chip and soil sampling, as well as advanced geophysical surveys like radiometric and gradient array IP/resistivity (Figure 3).
Figure 3: Simplified Geology of Kingsgate with soil and rock chip sampling completed by Auzex Resources Limited ( Source: Auzex Resources)
The initiative also included significant drilling efforts, with over 318 reverse circulation drill holes and 12 diamond drill holes, collectively exceeding 15,000 metres of drilling depth aimed at extensive 3D modelling of the quartz pipes and their associated mineral layers.
This robust suite of exploration techniques has not only confirmed the presence of significant mineralisation but also refined the understanding of the complex geological interactions within the Kingsgate area.
The strategic combination of historical data and modern geoscientific methods has rendered the Kingsgate Project a cornerstone of potential economic and scientific development, presenting a compelling case for continued investment and research in this mineralogically diverse region.
Highway Project
Located 590 kilometres from Adelaide and 186 kilometres north of Port Augusta, the Highway Project traverses a strategic area bisected by the Stuart Highway.
The project remains the primary focus for the company, as it plans a “systematic” exploration of it through 2024.
Near the essential stopover of Glendambo, the project benefits from accessible roads like Bil La Kalin Road and Hawks Nest Bore Road, with additional support from an all-weather airstrip at Glendambo.
Figure 4: Highway Project Location (Taiton Website)
This project is characterised as hosting a substantial molybdenum-enriched polymetallic porphyry or an intrusive-type mineral system, previously unrecognised by earlier explorations.
The area's geological intrigue is further highlighted by magnetic lineaments east of Lake Labyrinth in the Gawler Craton, interpreted as indicative of basin structures related to intra-cratonic rifting coincident with the Olympic Metallogenic Event.
Recent geological reassessment has provided significant insights. Historical drill logs and new zircon geochronological analysis suggest that lower Gawler Range Volcanics are interlayered with older stratigraphic units (Figure 5).
This includes zircon grains extracted from shallow depths which imply hydrothermal mixing of fluids enriched in lead, uranium, and rare earth elements.
These findings correct previous age datings to around 1598 ± 8.8 Ma, contemporary with the Olympic Metallogenic Event.
Figure 5: Distribution of drill holes with re-dated zircons returning a U-Pb age coincident with an OME age-extension. Such new data has both academic and economic significance (Source : Taiton Website)
Additionally, a hydrogeochemical survey conducted by CSIRO in the vicinity of the Merino Prospect has identified indicators of an active hydrothermal system at shallow depths.
Exploratory efforts in 2023, including an Ultra-Fine sampling program, uncovered significant molybdenum mineralisation at Merino, with subsequent drilling confirming the scale and continuity needed for economic viability.
Building on these findings, Taiton's 2024 exploration strategy involves shifting focus from Merino to explore other prospects with potential for preservation and richer mineralisation.
This includes the Garfield Prospect and new areas like Pluto and Snoopy. These efforts are part of a comprehensive plan to evaluate the region for a variety of mineralisations,
including precious metals, base metals, and rare earth elements.
The ongoing exploration aims to enhance the understanding and development potential of the Highway Project, promising to position it as a significant contributor to South Australia's mining landscape.
Challenger West Prospect
Located in the heart of South Australia's mining territory, the Challenger West Prospect emerges as a significant point of interest within the Gawler Craton, particularly in the Mulgathing Province's Christie Subdomain (Figure 6).
The prospect is strategically positioned on gravity ridges that herald the geological intricacies of the area.
These ridges form part of the gneissic formations of the Christie Mineral Field, a region known for its complex metamorphic history and significant mineral deposits.
Figure 6: Challenger West locations (Source: ASX release)
Historically, the discovery of the nearby Challenger Mine revolutionised exploration in the area through calcrete sampling, a method that led to extensive mineral explorations across South Australia for over fifteen years.
Despite its past efficacy, recent evaluations have pointed out limitations to this approach, prompting a shift towards more sophisticated geological assessments.
Taiton executive director Noel Ong said: “We have always held the view that Challenger West has the potential to not only discover another Challenger Gold Mine but other metals.”
The company has kicked off its maiden exploration program at Challenger West.
The exploration comprises a reconnaissance ultrafine soil sampling program at an initial three “high priority” prospect areas at the project.
The Challenger West Prospect offers a compelling study of the transformational power of high-temperature geological processes.
It is believed that the area's gold was initially deposited in Archaean para- and orthogneisses, with subsequent high-grade metamorphic events during the Palaeoproterozoic era reshaping its distribution.
These processes, involving partial melting and melt migration, facilitated the formation of gold-enriched leucosomes within the migmatites, creating new avenues for gold accumulation.
The current geological models and reprocessed data position Challenger West as a frontier for new gold discoveries.
The alignment with historic and geophysical data provides Taiton Resources with a robust foundation to potentially uncover significant mineral deposits.
The presence of gravity highs, similar to those found in the Challenger Mine's terrain, offers promising indicators for the prospectivity of this area.
Lake Barlee Project
The Lake Barlee Project is strategically positioned within the Yilgarn Craton in Western Australia, a region celebrated for its rich mineral resources.
The project is notably located on an expansive intermittent playa salt lake, the second largest in the state, approximately 293 kilometres north of Southern Cross and 65 kilometres southeast of Youanmi (Figure 7).
This region is underlain by the Southern Cross Granite–Greenstone Terrane, a significant geological feature of the Archaean Yilgarn Craton.
Figure 7: Location of Lake Berlee Project (Source: Taiton Website)
The area is bounded by contrasting terranes and is traversed by numerous shear zones such as the Youanmi and Yuinmery Shear Zones, which define the highly prospective geological boundaries critical for mineral exploration.
Lake Barlee’s geology is predominantly characterised by Cenozoic playa sediments and less commonly by greenstone belts, with the terrane primarily consisting of granitoid formations. Despite limited outcroppings, the greenstones have been identified beneath the lake via aeromagnetic surveys, suggesting hidden geological complexities conducive to orogenic gold mineralisation.
Historic and ongoing exploration activities have focused on the potential for gold, uranium, and potash within these formations. Notable explorations include high-grade orogenic gold mining at Halleys East and extensive potash explorations by Parkway Minerals.
Recent interpretations of aeromagnetic data by Taiton have further highlighted the potential for significant mineral deposits.
The surveys suggest the presence of linear anomalies indicative of high-strain Archean metavolcanic sequences, similar to those hosting the large-scale gold deposits found at the Big Bell mine.
The combination of advanced geophysical techniques and the geological setting at Lake Barlee positions it as a promising site for future mineral exploration and potential economic development in Western Australia’s mining sector.
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