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Apr 2019 - Kalamazoo Res Ltd

Reviewing the Extensive data plus new Geology info before Drilling

In early March 2019, ERA attended a presentation by Kalamazoo (KZR) at the Melbourne Mining Club, followed the next day by a short visit to KZR’s Castlemaine Project. This report has been based on available historical information and presentations made by Kalamazoo and Kirkland Lake. KZR acquired its wholly owned (100%) Castlemaine Project (centred on the Wattle Gully EL tenement and adjacent EL application shown in Figure 1a) from the Victorian Mines Dept in June 2018 for “minimal expense” after Liongold dropped it in 2017 for failing to meet stipulated Victorian Mines Dept expenditure requirements.

Other Key Points: :

  • The Castlemaine Goldfield has a historic reputation for being the richest alluvial gold field in Victoria due to producing >800koz in 1852 and ~400koz in 1855, for ~5.2Moz from alluvials/near surface; and 0.36Moz later at >10g/t underground from Wattle Gully between ~1937 and 1969, but apart from Wattle Gully it appears to have largely remained dormant for ~110 years since ~1910.
  • Liongold acquired Castlemaine Goldfields (CGT) in 2012 for ~$55m. CGT then consisted of holdings in a number of Victorian goldfields such as Ballarat (which it had acquired from Lihir for $10m in 2009), Castlemaine, Tarnagulla etc. JORC 2004 inferred resources were then quoted for Castlemaine of : 2.1Mt @ 8.3g/t for 574koz at Chewton [based on 17 drillholes over 700m] & 610kt @ 5.7g/t for 112koz in remnants of the old Wattle Gully mine; (& for Ballarat : 160kt @ 9.5g/t for 48koz).
  • In JQ 2009 the Chewton component of the Castlemaine Project was valued at $66m (pre-tax), applying a 15%NPV in an independent scoping study based on a gold price of A$1200/oz, total cost of ~A$650/oz, treating 270ktpa @ 8.3g/t for 8 years (including development) to produce ~335koz.
  • Some of the reported intersections in 2008 (~5km to 10km north of Chewton/Wattle Gully) were: 0.8m @ 13.1g/t from 46m in the Pine Plantation (PP), 7.1m @ 22.9g/t from 333m in the Shicer fault (in the PP), 2.5m @ 64.4g/t & 0.8m @ 121g/t at North Quartz Hill; and Cappers : 5m @ 10g/t from 14m, 0.6m @ 540g/t from 52m, 0.8m @156g/t from 142m and 0.8m @ 54g/t from 310m.
  • Wattle Gully (& Chewton) visually appears to have structural similarities to Kirkland Lake’s Fosterville, being a stacked fault system with faulted offset anticlines and synclines.
  • The Castlemaine goldfield has a major advantage when compared to many other Victorian gold explorers as its mineralisation extends to near surface with little cover, whereas further north, the mineralisation is hidden under the Murray Basin sedimentary cover (as shown in Figure 1b).
  • KZR is undertaking a number of studies before it commits to drilling using part of the war chest from its $7m sale of Snake Well: including IP, an agreement with CSIRO, plus reviewing the extensive database (that includes ~80km of diamond drilling), and historical company studies.
  • Written by: Keith Goode
  • Monday, 15 April 2019