Location
The Eclipse-Gindalbie Project area is located approximately 55km NNE of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. The nearest gold processing plant is at Kanowna Belle, 35km to the south. The area is accessed by the Yarri Road, which is a partially sealed, well-used road and is generally maintained in good condition. Empire holds a 75% interest in the Eclipse Project, with the right to acquire 100%, and has a Tribute Agreement over the adjacent Gindalbie Project. Due to their proximity to one another, Empire has consolidated the projects into the Eclipse-Gindalbie Project Area. The expanded project area contains multiple mineralised structures all of which are likely related to one much larger gold system.
Geological Setting
Eclipse-Gindalbie is situated within the Kurnalpi Terrane, close to the boundary of the prolific Kalgoorlie terrane (high Au and Ni endowment) defined by the major regional Ockerburry Fault system (Figure 1). The surrounding district is dominated by 2.70 Ga mafic volcanic rocks, calc-alkaline complexes, feldspathic sedimentary rocks, and mafic rocks. The western margin of the Kurnalpi terrane comprises slightly younger 2.68 Ga rhyolite-basalt and felsic calc-alkaline complexes and associated volcanoclastic sediments.
Drilling by the Company at Eclipse has confirmed that gold mineralisation is associated with a NW-striking and steeply SW-dipping shear zone (“Eclipse Shear”) with significant gold mineralisation known to extend over a strike length of more than 200 metres. Mineralisation may connect to the Jack’s Dream area further to the NW giving a total known strike length of the Eclipse system of some 500 metres. High grade mineralisation has also been intersected at Twin Shaft about 120m south of the Eclipse shear. It is not yet clear if the known mineralisation in the Eclipse area is part of a linked shear system, or separate sub-parallel shear zones.
Exploration and Historical Mining Activities
The Eclipse gold mine has had multiple owners since its discovery in 1902. In the period from April 1905 to November 1910 the Eclipse shaft was developed to a depth of 258 feet and produced 954 tonnes @ 24.6 g/t Au for 754.25 oz Au (source: GSWA Mindex database). In the 1990s the shaft was dewatered, refurbished to the bottom level and the collar of the shaft was re-established with concrete.
Gindalbie was an active gold mining centre around the turn of 19th century with most gold production occurring within 1887 to 1913, and some in the late 1930s to early 1940s. Total recorded production up to the end of 1913 was 44,622 tonnes of ore for 40,643 oz Au at an average grade of 28.33 g/t Au.
The majority of the historic production at Gindalbie came from the South Gippsland leases, made up of some five leases in total, which produced a combined total of 35,415 tonnes for 32,522 oz Au. Other key producing leases included United, which produced 2,710 tonnes for 2,274 oz Au.
Extensive exploration of the present area was carried out throughout the late 20th century to the present by the various owners of the licence area including, but not limited to, aerial photography, geological mapping, dump sampling, underground mapping and sampling, geophysics, and RAB and RC drilling.
Prospecting has occurred intermittently on the licence. However, since acquiring the property, Empire has executed a systematic exploration programme comprising soils geochemistry, close-spaced ground magnetics geophysics, and RC and diamond drilling, from which the Company has proven the mineralised envelope at Eclipse is open both along strike and at depth, and identified that there are multiple parallel veins which coalesce around the old Eclipse Shaft.
Empire has undertaken significant drill programmes across the Eclipse-Gindalbie Project including 15,117m of RC drilling and 1,328m of diamond drilling. This has confirmed the presence of exceptional gold mineralisation.
The mineralised system at Eclipse-Gindalbie much larger than originally thought with recent drilling confirming high-grade parallel veins to the Eclipse lode and wide strike extensions at Jack’s Dream. Recent drilling at Homeward Bound, which lies southeast of the Eclipse shaft reported stellar grade intercepts:
- 5m @ 8.99 g/t Au from 31m downhole, including 1m at 40.90 g/t Au;
- 3m @ 8.96 g/t Au from 98m downhole, including 2m at 13.28 g/t Au; and
- 3m @ 9.88 g/t Au from 46m downhole, including 1m at 26.20 g/t Au.
Recent drilling also confirmed the presence of a thick zone of kaolin. Kaolin is used extensively in a number of industries including paper, plastics, adhesives, rubber, paint, refractories, cement, bricks and ceramics, and is considered to be a desirable feedstock for the production of high-purity aluminium oxide (‘alumina’) which is an essential component in lithium-ion batteries.
This drilling returned multiple significant intercepts of white kaolin. Further test work on the kaolin samples collected from the drill programme is required to ascertain the likely kaolin yield and brightness, two key factors in determining the quality of any potential deposit.
