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soutH AustrALiA

Indiana’s SA crusade

starts with a bang

barely believable start to gold explora- when it is really hard to get a con-
A tion in the Central Gawler has Indiana tiguous land package in a known
Resources Ltd executive chair Bronwyn mineral province,” Barnes said.
Barnes eager to kick off the next round of “We have ended up with 5,000sq
drilling. km in an underexplored belt which
Indiana opened its South Australian has a history of not only discovery
exploration account in February with hits but production. Where else do you
of 19m @ 2.88 g/t gold from 78m, 5m @ get a dominant landholding in a Tier
24.35 g/t from 106m, 22m @ 3.07 g/t from 1 jurisdiction and known province
125m, 3m @ 18.33 g/t from 189m and 8m like this?”
@ 4.79 g/t from 89m following RC drilling The ground contains some his-
on the Minos prospect, part of its 5,000sq torical workings as well as more
km Central Gawler project. recent geological work, but Indiana
Those first five holes were followed is intent on following its own course.
in March by the remainder of a 10-hole, Barnes said the detail of the com-
1,600m programme. The second set of re- pany’s early efforts was reflected in
sults included hits of 38m @ 6.54 g/t from the drilling results.
29m, 2m @ 6.32 g/t from 100m and 26m @ “A lot of work has gone on behind
4.28 g/t from 68m. the scenes while we were doing
Barnes told Paydirt she was “beyond due diligence on the ground,” she Indiana has picked up 5,000sq km of ground in the
thrilled” with the results. said. “We reviewed the historical Central Gawler district of South Australia
“For a first programme to produce a data and there were some assump-
cracking set of numbers like this really un- tions around structural orientation
derlines that the belief we had before ac- of the deposit, but we have taken a different grammes.
quisition – that this whole area is underex- approach and drilled in a different direction. “We think the Central Gawler probably
plored – was warranted,” she said. We believed we had the technical justifica- hasn’t had enough attention in the last few
Indiana acquired Central Gawler in a tion for it and that has been proven, so hats years,” Barnes said. “There is an opportu-
largely scrip deal with private group Patron off to the exploration team.” nity to consolidate a ground position and we
Resources Ltd in October last year. The Minos within the 30km-long regional are happy to talk to others.”
package comprises 14 exploration licenc- structure known as the Lake Labyrinth A decade after the State was last an ex-
es and one mining licence covering more shear zone. Nine of the 10 holes ended in- ploration hotspot, SA could be back on the
than 2,600sq km near three historical gold side the mineralised shear zone and could radar again and Barnes is happy to be in-
mining centres – Challenger, Tarcoola and be extended for repetitions of the structure volved early.
Tunkillia. Indiana subsequently pegged an- at depth. There are several discrete high- “We appointed an SA-based explora-
other 2,500sq km of ground. grade structures within the intersections tion manager in February; that is often the
“It is a fantastic ground position at a time which will be better defined with upcoming secret to good relationships with govern-
diamond holes. ment and community, having someone on
A follow-up programme was announced the ground,” she said. “SA has a long min-
in late March with RC and diamond holes ing history and there are plenty of services
planned at Minos and several other pros- and support around. You have no trouble
pects. accessing rigs and labs. We are really
Regional targets will also be tested. pleased with how quickly we have moved,
“We would like to expand the drilling even in the face of COVID.”
down to the Ariadne prospect and to the The instant progress in SA is in contrast
north-west end of the tenements, but we to Indiana’s African portfolio where the
are still waiting on some Native Title and SA company is embroiled in a dispute with the
Government access approvals.” Tanzanian Government over the withdrawal
The Central Gawler is undergoing a re- of licences in the East African nation.
vival of sorts with private group Barton Gold The tussle is set for a first World Bank-
Pty Ltd attempting to restart mining at Chal- backed arbitration hearing on April 22 and
lenger – once a prolific high-grade produc- Barnes is eager to get the process moving.
er for Dominion Mining – and the Tunkillia “We are very keen to have a solution,”
(965,000oz @ 1.15 g/t gold) and Tarcoola she said.
(16,000oz @ 1.3 g/t gold) projects. The death of Tanzania President John
Elsewhere in the district mining heavy- Magufuli in March is not expected to alter
weights such as Fortescue Metals Group the hearing.
The Minos prospect returned impressive Ltd and Vale SA have been accumulat- – Dominic Piper
intercepts in the maiden round of drilling ing ground and building exploration pro-

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