Bethanga Porphyry Copper-Gold Project

The 194km2 Bethanga Porphyry Copper-Gold Project is targeting a large-scale Porphyry Copper-Gold System.View ASX Announcements

 

 

The Project is located in Australia’s premier Porphyry Copper-Gold geological terrain.


 

Regional and Local Geology

  • The Bethanga project is underlain by the Macquarie Arc / Yoeval Tract – a belt of volcanic and intrusive rocks part of the Cowra-Buchan Rift Complex some 600km long and 100-260km wide. (Shown in figures 1 and 3. USGS Porphyry Copper Assessment of Eastern Australia 2010).
  • The Yoeval Tract is host to the Tier 1 Cadia Valley, Northparkes and Cowra deposits. It is defined by a belt of volcanic and intrusive igneous rocks of Late Silurian to Devonian age (440 – 380 Ma). The tract has an endowment of >80MozAu and 13Mt copper.
  • The Yoeval Tract is classed as an Assessed Porphyry Copper Tract (figures 1 and 3) – meaning the volcanic and intrusive rocks within this tract indicate permissive depths of exposure within the Cowra-Buchan Rift Complex to host Porphyry Copper-Gold mineralisation.
  • Geological Survey of Victoria recognises the “Macquarie Arc Derivatives” as a new style of terrain prospective for Porphyry Cu-Au (+/- Mo-Ag) and VHMS (Zn-Cu-Ag) mineralisation. See figure 2.

Figure 1: Bethanga Porphyry Copper - Gold project, Victoria  Figure 2: Bethanga Porphyry Copper-Gold Project, Victoria   Figure 3: Bethanga Porphyry Copper – Gold Project, Victoria


Project Details

Figure 4: Bethanga Porphyry Copper - Gold Project, Victoria

  • The project site is located 300km northeast of Melbourne and 30km east of the major regional centre of Albury Wadonga.
  • Combined area of the two tenements is 194km2 (EL006920 141km2 / EL06517 53km2)
  • The project areas were mined at the turn of the century and produced 118kOz Au at 39g/t and 618t Cu from selectively mined narrow north-northeast trending quartz reefs developed within shear zones. The quartz veins are <1m wide and were mined down to 30-40m depth.

Photo 1: Bethanga Porphyry Copper - Gold project historical workings and exposed gossan


 

Nexus Work Program

Porphyry Cu-Au Fertility Assessment Proposed Works:

  • Prospect wide soil sampling program planning completed. Program aiming to identify pathfinder elements indicative of a magmatic hydrothermal system at depth.
  • Geological mapping and lithogeochemical sampling – with specific alteration and geochemical characteristics being sought to indicate Porphyry Cu-Au prospectivity.
  • Reprocess and 3D inversion of regional aeromagnetic data, followed by detailed ground magnetics survey.


Term Sheet

The following terms and conditions have been agreed:

  • The Company paid a $5,000 non-refundable fee for a one-month due diligence period that was completed 20 April 2021.
  • The Company successfully completed initial due diligence and paid a further $40,000 non-refundable option fee to the Vendors. This option fee allowed Nexus to have the exclusive right for a period of 8 months to undertake reconnaissance exploration activities on the tenements – now completed.
  • Nexus has renegotiated the final consideration to acquire 100% of the Bethanga project to ( pdf ASX release 24 December 2021 (353 KB) ):
    • $300,000 cash consideration; and
    • 1,219,512 NXM fully paid ordinary shares (shares to the value of $700,000 at a deemed price of 57.4 cents).