| Windermere Project History |
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The Windermere Project consists of MDL application 381 of 347 ha and is located in the east of Mt Garnet and close to the Wild River; approximately 10 km north of the Kennedy Highway.
NOTE: Although on seperate mining tenure, Deadmans Gully is part of the overall Windermere Project.
Below is from independent Geologist Les Davis Report included in the Consolidated Tin Mines Limited Prospectus.
Geology Ironstone rich-skarn rocks are found in lenses within a northerly striking zone extending over of 2.5 km. Ironstones lenses varying from massive dense haematite/magnetite bodies to goethite/limonite sponge textured rocks are from 1 to 8 m wide and up to 550 m long. The skarn has developed along the western contact of a body of limestone and silicate-rich rocks of the Hodgkinson Formation adjacent a granitic member of the O’Brien’s Creek Super suite to the west (see Figure 1).
Previous Investigations. John Gallo (1998, 2) reported on the following work at the Windermere Project. The Windermere Project area, now held within MDL application 381 was originally taken up as three mining leases and explored by Renison in 1976 for Gillian type tin rich ironstones deposits. Exploration results are incomplete. Renison’s work was reported by consultant geologist W Brook for Otter in 1982 - ten samples from outcropping ironstones for which there were no results. In 1982, Placer Exploration Limited undertook sampling but there are no reports. Otter, in joint venture with Renison in 1982, undertook mapping, sampling and identified six ironstone rich zones, called Zones A to F (see Figure 1). Otter collected 99 surface samples and many assayed greater than 0.5% tin and up to 1.75% tin in ironstone lenses. The higher grades are found in dense, magnetite bearing ironstone. Away from the ironstones, skarn and limestone samples assay mostly less than 0.05% tin and rarely up to 0.1% tin. Similar to the Gillian deposit, Otter found a cassiterite-rich northern section, in Zones A, B, D and E and a gillianite-type, soluble-tin section in the southern Zones C and F. Otter completed seven trenches within these zones but trench sample results are not known. In 1995, Strike farmed into the Windermere tenement, remapped the ironstone exposures and re-sampled the trenches (see Table 1).
Table 1. Windermere Project – Trench sample assay results.
The prospect has never been drilled. Strike estimated that 660 000 tonnes at an average grade of 0.56% tin (total tin) might exist. This estimate was based on the area of ironstone in five of the six defined zones, a bulk density of 2 g/cc, and assumed a 50 m depth-extent. Strike pointed out that the Otter mapping slightly exaggerated the length of the outcropping lodes, but a conservative bulk density assumption was adopted. The Strike resource estimate appears quite reasonable as some of the outcropping ironstones occur over a relief of 30 m and the 2.5-km zone occurs over a relief of 60 m. VWPL concludes that about 13 000 tonnes per vertical metre is likely based on the surface area of the mineralised zone, but this will change with the shape of the ironstone lenses and expected complex folding. Strike sold the Windermere tenement to Tin Australia in 1998, which in turn, sold it to Bluestone Tin Ltd in 2005. Neither Tin Australia nor Bluestone Tin Ltd completed any work.
Conclusions- Mineralisation Potential and Future Work At the Windermere Project, exploration for a large tonnage deposit can be justified. The tin-bearing ironstones within the skarn crop out over 2.5 km within which a sizeable body of tin mineralisation could be found. The granite only crops out in the west, so the roof pendant structure may be large and extend to great depth within the granite batholith. (This is in contrast to Gillian and Pinnacles skarns, where the granite surrounds relatively small roof pendants and the granite basement is less than 300 m deep). Fold thickening of the skarn and ironstone units may give rise to volumes of mineralisation suitable for open pit mining A detailed airborne survey will be completed at Windermere, to explore the extent of ironstone development. Drilling is justified to check the extension of the tin-bearing structures and to procure samples for metallurgical tests.
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