IS THE GAWLER CRATON THE NEXT COMMODITY RUSH, AGAIN?

IS THE GAWLER CRATON THE NEXT COMMODITY RUSH, AGAIN?

✦ A Samso Insight on why investors should be interested in the Gawler Craton

Actually, world-class deposits are found in Cadia (New South Wales) and the Olympic Dam. They are lesser known because they are not in the realms of the average investors’ playing space. Most people are not aware of the significance of Gawler Craton. Some parts of the brokering fraternity do not even pay attention to this area.

What is the Gawler Craton?

The Gawler Craton is the oldest and largest geological province in South Australia, preserving a complex tectonic history spanning from c. 3200 Ma to 1450 Ma. The craton comprises a Meso- to Neoarchaean core enclosed by Palaeoproterozoic to Mesoproterozoic rocks. The Mesoarchaean history of the Gawler Craton is dominated by felsic magmatism, the Neoarchaean to Palaeoproterozoic history by sedimentation and bimodal volcanism, and the Mesoproterozoic history by felsic volcanism. - Source: South Australian Department of Energy and Mining.

What’s in the Gawler Craton?

According to the department, the Gawler Craton is prospective for the following commodities:

Metals: Cu, Au Fe, Ag, Pb, Zn, Co, Ni, Cr, Mn Ti, V, PGE, Mo, W, Sn, REE

Industrial minerals: graphite, kaolin, talc, magnesite, limestone, dolomite, barite, vein-silica, manganese oxide

Gem: jade, diamonds, chalcedony/ agate

Construction materials: vast resources of road making material (limestone, dolomite, quartzite, sandstone, gneiss), dimension

stone (granite) and regolith clay (brickmaking & refractory)

Energy minerals: U3O8, thorium

What all the geological jargon means is that the Gawler Craton is old and has had a lot of structural deformations, reheating, deposition and redepositing of mineralisation.

Gawler Craton is a blank canvas and where you discover something is entirely up to the participants who have the “Who Dares Win” strategy. We all know that this simply means the size of your pocket and that gut instinct.

In summary, it is a damn good place to be looking for minerals as it is a large cooking pot with everything thrown into it.

Why the interest in the Gawler Craton?

The Gawler Craton, in my opinion, is literally the last frontier. This is due to its remoteness and lack of exploration activities for the last twenty years. When you look at the size of the area, you can start to appreciate the remoteness and the potential cost of exploring in this area.

What makes this a great project location is that the remoteness is coupled by the lack of interest by the capital markets to fund any exploration for the last twenty years. What this lack of interest means for an optimistic exploration geologist, is the thought of a blank canvas to discover new deposits.

What is noteworthy is that Gawler Craton is a large place and one of the most important aspects of mineral exploration is to get access to the land, so that you can do work.

The key aspect of my Insight is the lack of intense exploration in the Gawler Craton, the lack of interest for a good part of two decades and the lack of capital that encourages exploration in this part of the world. If you have ever tried to look for stories in this industry and you are asking the question “Where can I find good tenements”, you will agree that it is a pretty well populated space.

What is even more compelling is that there are world class deposits that have been discovered and mined in the Gawler Craton for over three decades. However, only about two thirds of the area have been touched extensively. The focus in Gawler has always been the IOCH style and there have been many endeavours over the years, but I have not seen much news on discoveries.

There is much waiting to be revealed in the Gawler Craton. And I am eager to see what will come up.

Disclaimer

The information contained on this website is the writer’s personal opinion and is provided to you for information only and is not intended to or nor will it create/induce the creation of any binding legal relations. Read full Disclaimer. - Noel Ong, Samso

Samso helps executives tell their stories to pique investor interest.

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