Vic Tech Night: The Land that Time Forgot: The Victorian Eastern Goldfields

ASEG Victoria is super delighted to announce the return of in-person branch events with an upcoming technical meeting night! You are invited to join us for a special presentation by Ian Nielsen (Chief geologist, First AU and Director of PGN Geoscience) on Thursday November 25th from 6pm at The Kelvin Club. This will be the last technical meeting night of the year for Victoria branch so come along and get busy sharing lockdown dramas with your peers over a drink or two.

The Land that Time Forgot: The Victorian Eastern Goldfields

Emerging geological models for evolution of the Eastern Australian continental margin involving accretionary orogenesis of the Southern Tasmanides has transformed Victoria gold and base metals prospectivity. Recognition of the same prospective Ordovician terrane that hosts significant central goldfields deposits at Bendigo and Fosterville in Eastern Victoria was proposed by various researchers over the past decade in which the formation of an orocline was established to constrain the relative rotation of the terrane about the Selwyn Block, now situated in Gippsland. A ground package was pulled together in 2017 with high-graded areas pegged during 2018 and 2019 by Victorian Goldfields Pty Ltd. The portfolio comprises several hundred historic high-grade gold workings amongst a myriad of complex litho-structural settings that includes several unique porphyry copper-molybdenum projects – further demonstration of the significant upside potential of the area.

The flagship Haunted Stream Project (EL006816) contains over one-hundred historic gold workings across an 8.5km strike length. Historic mining head grades were considerably high (>10-50g/t Au) matched with strong production rates for the late 19th century. The majority of hard-rock gold mining ceased prior to the first world war due to a number of contributing factors. Numerous gold mines were worked to depths of ~300ft, however difficulties encountered due to the ingress of water, metallurgical reconciliation and foul air, all of which were unable to be adequately addressed in the late 1890’s, drove miners out leaving an entire district poorly explored and opened at depth.

First Au Ltd acquired an 80% interest in Victorian Goldfields Pty Ltd in mid-2020 and has since spawned a new wave of exploration currently being undertaken within the district, including detailed litho-structural mapping and rock-chipping that has revealed a complex structural and mineralisation history. In-situ rock chip sampling from underground workings have returned grades in excess of 125g/t Au, underscoring the high-fertility potential of the region. A maiden drill campaign at Snowstorm earlier in 2021 produced very encouraging results with a best intersection of 3.1m @ 11.6g/t Au from 53m including 0.8m @ 33g/t Au from 54m. A follow-up drill program is currently being undertaken. First Au expects to also test a number of its copper-gold porphyry prospects in eastern Victorian during Q1 2022.

Speaker biography

Ian Neilson (BSc MSc R.P. Geo MSEG MAIG MGSA) is a structural geologist with significant global exploration and mining experience in orogenic gold, porphyry copper and base-metal deposits. He has spent the past 19-years as a consultant for Jigsaw Geoscience, Model Earth and PGN Geoscience working on numerous projects for clients that include Newmont, First Quantum Minerals, BHP, Newcrest Mining, Placer Dome, KCGM and many others. Ian’s 3D mapping and target generation resulted in the Discovery and subsequent development of the Hidden Secret UG Gold Mine in Kalgoorlie in 2016. More recently, his structural geological work and drill targeting has contributed significant value to several major Victorian gold explorers. Ian is currently a director of PGN Geoscience and Victorian Goldfields Pty Ltd. In 2020, Ian was appointed Chief Geologist of First Au Limited (ASX: FAU).

Note: The Kelvin Club operates under a strict COVID safe plan to help ensure the safety for all its employees and patrons. In-line with the directions issued by Victoria's Chief Health Officer, all visitors to the club must check-in using the QR code provided at the entrance before personally verifying their vaccination status with the attending manager on the evening. If you do not comply with this requirement, you may be denied entry to the club.

Light refreshments will be served during the evening.

Please register your interest in attending this event by using the following link:

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/aseg-victoria-technical-meeting-night-tickets-206980673767