Wattle Dam
Open Pit
52,700 oz @ 5.3g/t completed 2008
Underground
210,000 oz @ 14.9g/t completed 2012
The Wattle Dam gold deposit is one of Australia’s highest-grade gold mines, hosted in sheared and metamorphosed ultramafic rocks and interflow sedimentary units.
Historical production from Ramelius Resources (ASX:RMS) at Wattle Dam from 2008-12:
Open Pit 52,700oz gold @ 5.3g/t gold
Underground 213,650oz gold @ 14.9g/t gold
Total 266,350oz gold @ 10.6g/t gold
The high-grade ore zones at the site are vertically plunging, 80-100m in strike length and 8-15m wide.
Shallow operations have mined to 365m below surface but the finding of coarse gold veins resulted in the geological modelling under-calling contained gold.
High-grade Mineralisation
High-grade mineralisation within the Wattle Dam pit is associated with intense biotite alteration within komatiitic ultramafics.
Chlorite / biotite / amphibole ± sulphide alteration surrounding main ore zone 40-70m wide.
During mining operations at Wattle Dam areas of strong alteration and low assays were observed to contain coarse free gold and subsequently mined to a geological envelope.
Deep drilling suggests the alteration associated with the Main Zone mineralisation extends to the Spargoville shear zone. This was modelled but never drill tested.
