Wishbone II, IV and VI

The Company’s three Wishbone licences are located in the highly prospective Mingela area which lies within the eastern outcrops of igneous and metamorphic rocks of the Ravenswood-Lolworth Province. The Ravenswood Granodiorite Complex outcrops throughout the area and is bounded by a large shear zone structure along which much of the gold mineralisation in the region is located.

The area in and around Wishbone II, III and IV has been explored for decades, though many sites within the tenements remain underexplored and untested.

Recent News

Wishbone II and IV continue to be sampled and tested, with the Halo Prospect being analysed in preparation for the drilling campaign.

On 27 May 2021 Terra Search reported at the AusIMM Roundup Conference in Cairns Australia that rock-chip sampling at the Halo Prospect (Wishbone II) had returned high gold values ranging from 0.5 grams per tonne gold (“g/t Au”) up to a 27g/t Au at Grassy Creek (One Mile Hill) plus copper (“Cu”) values ranging from 0.1% Cu to 3.3% Cu and silver (“Ag”) values ranging from 40 g/t Ag up to 145 g/t Ag

Wishbone II, high-grade surface rock-chip samples with assays at surface up to 25.2 grams per tonne gold (“g/t Au”) at the Hanging Valley prospect have been recorded and 7.32 g/t Au were recorded at the Oaky Mill prospect on the licence.

The Wishbone II and IV Projects are a sizeable 14,700 hectare 100% owned group of Exploration Licences in the Mingela area located about 80km south of the major Queensland port city of Townsville. As previously reported by the Company, the area is bounded by a large shear zone structure along which historical gold mineralisation has been encountered.

The Wishbone project is situated between two producing gold projects, Charters Towers Gold Project to the west and Ravenswood to the east which was recently sold for up to AUD 300 million. These have combined inferred reserves of over 10 million (Au) ounces.

Historical Deposits

The Mingela region is characterised by widespread shows of mineralisation, an occurrence shared with many mining districts that host major ore bodies, suggesting the geological setting is conducive for a major ore body to be present in the general area beyond those already discovered (i.e. rediscovered) such as the Mount Wright and the Welcome Discovery areas. The larger historical deposits found at or near the surface include:

  • The Welcome Mine – produced 91,000g (6,737 oz) of gold in 3,658 tonnes of ore @ 25 g/t. North Queensland Resources estimate the mine has a current shallow pit resource of 250,000 tonnes @ 3.0 g/t gold.
  • Grass Hut Mine (1887-1910) – produced 68,000g (2,397 oz) of gold in 2,014 tonnes of ore @ 33.76 g/t.
  • New Caledonian Mine – produced 467,500g (16,500 oz) of gold at a grade of 30 g/t.
  • Mount Sulphide Mine (1934-1940) – produced 1,860g (66oz) of gold with grades up to 29.06 g/t and 21,210g (748oz) of silver with grades up to 331.4 g/t.
  • Althea/ Christian Kruck Mine – Gold Mines of Kalgoorlie estimates an indicated open-pit resource of 0.63m tonnes @ 3.1 g/t gold totalling approximately 2m grams (70,548oz) of gold.
  • The City of Melbourne Mine – workings returned 56,700g (2,000 oz) of gold in 1,983 tonnes of ore @ 28.6 g/t.
  • Kitty Cummings Mine – workings returned 4,650g (164oz) of gold in 340 tonnes of ore @ 13.68 g/t.
  • King Solomon Mine – workings returned 2,737g (97oz) of gold in 45.7 tonnes of ore @59.9 g/t.
  • Rose of Allandale No.1 SW Mine – workings returned 2,644g (93oz) of gold in 73.12 tonnes of ore @ 36.16 g/t.

Location & Infrastructure

The northern boundary of Wishbone II is located approximately 8km by road to the south east of Mingela, and is located some 80km, via the Flinders Highway, south of Townsville, Queensland. It is a further 24km to the southern boundary where it crosses the road. The Wishbone licences are accessed via the settlement of Mingela and the Burdekin Falls Dam Road.

The Mt. Isa-to-Townsville railway is approximately 8km north of Wishbone II and runs parallel to the Flinders Highway heading east to Townsville and west to Charters Towers, Cloncurry and Mt. Isa. This railroad carries mined ore and concentrates from the Mt. Isa Mines, and more recently from mines in the Cloncurry area to Townsville.

The EPM Wishbone IV is situated in the Charters Towers Mining District and within the Charters Towers Regional Council local authority. Wishbone IV is located 50 km to the east of Charters Towers and 20km south of the hamlet of Mingela. Access to the tenement is via Flinders Highway, then the Burdekin Dam road from Mingela to Ravenswood and then secondary roads and station tracks

Wishbone VI is adjacent to Wishbone Gold’s tenement package in the Mingela region represented by the granted EPMs 18396, 19633,19696. Wishbone Gold has been successfully exploring this highly prospective gold-copper endowed section of the Charters Towers-Ravenswood gold province for a number of years.

Extracts from CPR

“Based on the available reports and associated information we have concluded that the Wishbone II EPM is a high quality exploration target meriting serious attention by the WBG management.”

“There are numerous prospects on the subject property, so many that the first task would be to identify the most favourable prospects for more detailed examination.”

Previous Exploration

As a result of recent discoveries at the Welcome deposit (located 10km west of Wishbone II) and others to the north-west, combined with new information made available regarding the Mount Wright Mine (20km south of Wishbone II) and the Mount Leyshon Mine (60km southwest of Wishbone II), a renewed interest has developed in the trend along which the Company’s Wishbone licenses are located.

Exploration Strategy

The area in and around Wishbone II, III, IV and IVI has been explored for decades, though many sites within the tenements remain underexplored and untested. In addition, exploration activity over the last 20 years was undertaken using standard techniques including surface reconnaissance, geological mapping, rock and soil sampling, various methods of aerial and ground geophysics, bedrock drilling and coring.

The Company commenced an exploration programme at Wishbone II, which included geochemical sampling and ground magnetic surveying, and highlighted the potential for gold and multi-element mineralisation at the Oaky Mill and Hanging Valley Prospects. Both prospects are associated with known gold-bearing structures; in Oaky Mill’s case, the structure is along a trend that runs northwest from the producing Mt. Wright gold mine to the south. The other is the NE Structure that trends toward the Blue Doe historical mining area. The next phase of exploration activity will look to further define Oaky Mill, Hanging Valley and the NE Structure for the purpose of establishing potential drilling targets.

Recent News & Information on Project

TitleDateCategoriesLinkdoc_categories_hfilter
Significant Copper and Gold grades from drilling in Queensland, AustraliaSeptember 6, 2022Newsnews
Drilling Update at Halo Copper Gold ProjectJune 16, 2022Newsnews
Drilling Commences at Wishbone IIJune 7, 2022Newsnews
Drilling Contract Signed for Wishbone IIMay 16, 2022Newsnews
New Tenement Granted in Highly Endowed Gold/Copper DistrictAugust 12, 2021Newsnews
Wishbone Gold at Shares SpotlightJune 24, 2021Media, Newsmedia news
Dr Simon Beams Presentation on Halo Gold ProjectJune 17, 2021Newsnews
Dr Simon Beams Presentation at AusIMM ConferenceMay 27, 2021Presentationspresentations
Dr. Simon Beams to Present Wishbone’s Halo ProjectMay 26, 2021Newsnews
New Tenement Application – Queensland, AustraliaDecember 1, 2020Newsnews
Drilling approved for Wishbone’s High-Grade Australian Gold AssetsSeptember 7, 2020Newsnews
Gold Exploration to Commence on Australian High-Grade TargetsAugust 19, 2020Newsnews
Annual Report EPM 19696 Wishbone IVSeptember 29, 2017Exploration-Reportsexploration-reports
Annual Report EPM 19396 Wishbone IIApril 1, 2017Exploration-Reportsexploration-reports
Annual Report EPM 19633 Wishbone IIIMarch 1, 2017Exploration-Reportsexploration-reports
Results of Recent ExplorationNovember 1, 2015Exploration-Reportsexploration-reports
Annual Report EPM 19696 Wishbone IVNovember 1, 2015Exploration-Reportsexploration-reports
Positive Exploration Update on Wishbone II ProjectOctober 25, 2013Newsnews
Positive Exploration Update on Second Prospect on Wishbone II ProjectJuly 29, 2013Newsnews
Positive Exploration Update on Hanging Valley Prospect, Wishbone II ProjectJuly 17, 2013Newsnews
Positive Update on Wishbone II and White Mountain Gold ProjectsSeptember 24, 2012Newsnews
Wishbone Gold Plc Granted Two Highly Prospective Gold Licences in NE QueenslandSeptember 17, 2012Newsnews
Rationale EPM 19396 Wishbone IINovember 1, 2009Exploration-Reportsexploration-reports
Rationale EPM 19396 Wishbone IIMarch 1, 2009Exploration-Reportsexploration-reports
Wishbone Projects Geological MapMarch 1, 2009Exploration-Reportsexploration-reports