Cauldron Energy Ltd (ASX:CXU) has signed an agreement to acquire the Bullarto South Gold Project in the highly prospective Central Victorian Goldfields.
Bullarto South is about 4 kilometres west of the Blackwood Goldfields near Ballarat which produced over 199,000 ounces of gold in the 1860s Victorian goldrush – worth about US$190 million today.
Significant historical mining activities have been carried out at Bullarto South, with the project area having in excess of 100 named shafts and pits.
Bullarto South Gold Project prospect location map; blue points show location of mine-sites
Acquiring the Bullarto South is part of an overall strategy for Cauldron to build a presence in the Victorian goldfields in projects which have historical exploration supportive of the potential for large-scale gold deposits and short-term generation of cash-flow.
To this end, Cauldron is in advanced negotiations to acquire further projects nearby to Bullarto South which are highly prospective for gold.
Terms of the acquisition
Cauldron has formally executed a Heads of Agreement (HOA) to acquire:
- an initial 60% interest in the Bullarto South Gold Project via the issue of $75,000 worth of Cauldron shares to the vendor; and
- the potential to increase its ownership interest to 80% by collecting sufficient geological data to report a Mineral Resource (JORC 2012) having a gold mass of at least 300,000 ounces.
Geology
The project area lies within the central portion of the Victorian gold province, one of the worlds most productive (and largely forgotten; until recently) gold producing areas, accounting for more than 2% of world gold production.
Victorian geological zones with goldfield coloured by production
Gold mineralisation is associated with quartz hosted by tightly folded monotonous fine-grained sedimentary rock sequences.
