Hortons Gold Project – NSW

The Hortons Gold Project is situated 30km south east of Tenterfield in Northern NSW and comprises one exploration licence which covers 58 sq. km and has several gold anomalies. The Project is currently being acquired from Syndicate Minerals Pty Ltd with due diligence on the project now complete.

History 

The Hortons gold mine was developed by T. Horton in 1883 and was worked intermittently until 1938 with a shallow open cut and a shaft to around 10m depth.

The first modern exploration was carried out by the Electrolytic Zinc company from 1986 when 10 shallow holes were drilled. Following this Diamond and/or Reverse Circulation Drilling was completed by several groups including Saracen Minerals, Homestake Australia Ltd and Ross Mining. 

The drilling defined a strong zone of high grade mineralisation at shallow depths which is continuous over five 20m spaced sections. The sections are preserved in local grid co-ordinates to eliminate any grid conversion errors. There is no effective drilling either NNW or SSE, so there is further potential along strike and at depth.

Location and Geology

The geology is dominated by a series of granitic intrusions of Permian to Triassic age, all of which host gold occurrences. The differing granite types represent increasing fractionation of magma pulses as the magma chamber progressively emptied over millions of years. The most fractionated intrusion (hence the granite with the most potential for gold mineralisation) is the Surface Hill granite, which is intruded below and capped by the Montys and Bungalla granites.

Individual gold occurrences occur along a general NW-SE trend, but also appear to be controlled by NESW fault zones possibly related to the regional Demon Fault Zone to the west.