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Kelian Story
+ 240 t Au
DISCOVERY
CONCURRENCE OF COINCIDENCES
1969
Rio Tinto signs W.Sumatra CoW
Porphyry Cu sole target
1971
1972
1973 1974
1975
First expedition
1976
Second expedition
1976
Discovery O/C: 1‐2 ppm Au
Stream Sediment: up to 34 ppm AU
Float: up to 100 ppm Au
OBSERVATION 1
Keep an Open Mind
EXPLORATION PHASE I : 1976-79
1st Stage
Target: 30 Mt at 3‐4 g/t Au
The usual
EXPLORATION PHASE I :
SECOND STAGE
Pitting
Trenching
Banka drilling
OBSERVATION 2
EXPLORATION PHASE I :
THIRD STAGE
New target: 8‐10 Mt @ 8‐10 g/t Au
6 holes drilled
Inferred resource : 8.7 Mt @ 1.7g/t Au
Project terminated
Resurrection
EXPLORATION PHASE II : 1979-81
Staged drilling ( 40 holes >5000m)
The missing link
Strategy
Resource: 20‐30 Mt @ ~ 2g/t Au
Interlude (1982‐85)
CoW applied
Deep augering oxide zone:
0.95Mt @ 3.2g/t Au
CoW signed
JV established
EXPLORATION PHASE III : 1986-88
IP/resistivity: Hg soil sampling
Drilling: Resource ~ same : high grade at
base E.Prampus
Primary ore: poor recovery
Prove up oxide zone first
More bad news
EXPLORATION PHASE III : Cont
Float roast and/or
cyanidation
Break through
Pimple on elephant’s bum?
Muddy Breccia
Lahar? Volcanic breccia?
Clearly intrusive, but how?
After 15 years the answer
OBSERVATION 3
You dont recognise what you dont know
Grade ~ 30% higher
Blast hole analysis
More miss than hit
OBSERVATION 4
In deposits with bimodel grade distribution, grade
variability analysis useful tool to vector in on narrow
high grade zones
“Free gold is very rarely visible… in
either outcrop or drill core, and is
also rarely detectable on the
microscopic scale, even in samples
assaying over 25 g/t”
Why “invisible” ?
Clustering on prospect – wide and
hand specimen scale
“Lost” in pyrite masses etc
Assaying: coarse gold problem
Jawcrusher (1cm)
Cone crusher/disc grinder (1mm)
Sieved at 150 mesh
3x minus 150 mesh splits + total plus
fraction
= Total Au / 150 mesh Au
OBSERVATION 5
Undertake particle size distribution analysis
CFC userful semi‐quantatitive tool for geological and metallurgical
purposes
What made Kelian into a giant deposit?
THANK YOU