Resource World Magazine

F E B R U A R Y / M A R C H 2 0 1 9 www.resourceworld.com 57 Australian Update by Greg Barns I n a recent presentation to investors, International Prospect Ventures [IZZ-TSXV] described a 'gold rush' in the Western Australian Pilbara region, previously known for its world class iron ore deposits. As IPV pointed out, there is no less than 35 companies (mainly Australian and Canadian) exploring this vast and untapped region. In 2016, metal detectorists discovered several areas that were particularly rich in gold nuggets. These areas are close to where IPV has its projects. The recent focus on gold in the Pilbara, where the metal was mined in the 1880s, was the subject of recent comment by Alfred Stewart, writing for Resource World in July 2018. "It has been known for decades that a remote area of northwest Australia has a similar, but not identi - cal geological history to the richest gold field on Earth, the Witwatersrand Basin of South Africa, the "Wits". There, over 1.6 billion ounces of gold have been mined since the late 1800s and 1 billion ounces of gold remain to be mined in current reserves. In the Pilbara, no mines currently exist like those in South Africa, but that may be about to change due to a ragtag group of prospectors, and a Canadian com - pany, Novo Resources," Stewart wrote. And, as IPV has observed, several "early-stage gold discoveries in the area southeast of Karratha, have been reported by Novo Resources [NVO-TSXV] from several properties (Comet Well and Purdy's Reward; and near Marble Bar and Nullagine at Beaton's Creek) and separately by two Australian-listed companies, De Grey Mining [DEG-ASX] (Louden's Patch) and Artemis Resources [ARV-ASX] (JV with Novo Resources and other 100%- owned properties). Collectively, these gold discoveries appear to indicate a potentially gold-rich district, analogous, in broad geo - logical terms, to the Witwatersrand Basin and its related clastic sedimentary-hosted gold deposits," Stewart wrote. IPV has pegged eight projects which make up its Wits End Gold Project. These projects were acquired from a New South Wales unlisted company called Valroc, and in December 2017 IPV acquired a 100% interest in the projects. The projects are located southeast of Karratha and cover a total area of approximately 927 km 2 . The projects sit within the 2-6-2.8 bil- lion year old Fortescue Group which IPV notes, "unconformably overlies the gran- ite–greenstones of the Pilbara Craton and is commonly compared to the Ventersdorp Supergroup of the Witwatersrand Basin in South Africa." It points to the fact that gold-bearing conglomerates have been identified by Novo Resources at several stratigraphic levels in the Fortescue Group and that there are similarities "between palaeoplacer deposits hosted by conglom - erates in the Fortescue Group and the gold-bearing reefs mined in South Africa have been recognized for over a century." While it is early days, over the past 12 months IPV has focussed on planning a 12 month exploration program. This work includes data review and compilation; field programs, including surface trench - ing and sampling,; bulk sampling and data integration. Diamond drilling is also to be carried out. IPV wants to establish an income stream in the Pilbara with the company announc - ing that, while a deal with Novo Resources whereby IPV would have acquired a 0.5% royalty on net smelter returns on Novo's Comet Well property will not be proceed- ing because Novo intends to exercise its right of first refusal on the purchase of the royalty. IPV says, "it is continuing its NSR royalty search and engaging in discussions with interested groups and vendors." IPV's Wits End Project is in early stages but as one investment commentator writ - ing for Investing News Network noted in July last year, while the "Pilbara Gold Rush is still in its infancy and the deposit type is not as yet understood... challenges are to be expected. The geology may not be an exact replica of the prolific gold fields of South Africa's Witwatersrand, yet all the signs are there that Pilbara has the potential to become a significant gold dis - trict in its own right." n International Prospect Ventures targets Pilbara "It has been known for decades that a remote area of northwest Australia has a similar, but not identical geological history to the richest gold field on Earth, the Witwatersrand Basin of South Africa, the "Wits" — Alfred Stewart www.resourceworld.com

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