Laura River Gold Project

View Laura River Magnetic Image
View Laura River Gold in Stream Sediments Image

Gold

The Laura River Project targets the northern extensions of the high-grade Nicholson's Find goldfield, where a 200,000 tonne per annum gold treatment plant was established in 2002.

Previous exploration has been limited, partly due to poor outcrop, but also due to a historical focus an areas east of the Great Northern Highway. The outcropping Nicholson's Find goldfield for example, was only discovered in the late 1980's.

In late 2003 Navigator obtained gold grades up to 25.1 g/t from rock chip sampling on virgin ground at five different locations whilst undertaking preliminary investigation of several stream anomalies.

These results are regarded as extremely encouraging given the regional setting, the reconnaissance nature of the sampling, and the general paucity of outcrop.

Navigator commenced systematic evaluation of the gold potential in 2002 and conducted a detailed airborne magnetic survey, followed by a comprehensive multi-element stream sampling program. The aeromagnetic survey accurately located several regional shear zones that trend south into the Nicholson's Find goldfield where they have a spatial association with the known gold deposits. The stream sampling programme identified several large gold stream anomalies that are similar in magnitude to that in the Nicholson's Find area, and which have a spatial association with the same regional shears.

Imminent Gold Plans

Navigator's goal at Laura River is discovery and medium term gold production, potentially via a toll milling arrangement that utilises the Nicholson's gold treatment plant, located 2-3kms south of the project.

Mapping, soil sampling and RAB drilling are planned early in the 2004 field season in order to prioritise drill targets and progress towards RC drilling as rapidly as possible.

Laura River Nickel-PGM

The Laura River project is also prospective for nickel and PGM mineralisation associated with the mafic-ultramafic Lamboo layered intrusion.

Navigator has outlined several coincident Ni-Cu-Co-PGM stream anomalies that are associated with airborne EM anomalies and/or aeromagnetic highs. Float sampling at one of these occurrences, the Argonaut Prospect, is associated with deeply lateritised mafic-ultramafic intrusive rocks and produced maximum values of 4,075ppm nickel, 1,147ppm copper and 1,538ppm chromium.

Laura River Copper-Zinc-Lead-Gold (VMS)

The Laura River project is adjacent to the Koongie Park and Emull copper-zinc-lead-gold deposits, which represent the two largest VMS resources in the region.

The VMS potential of the project was substantially upgraded following recent government research that reassigned approximately 60% of the rocks within the project area to the VMS-prospective Koongie Park Formation.

Exploration by Navigator has since recognised a likely VMS style of mineralisation at the Dim Whiddy Prospect, and has also identified strongly anomalous multi-element (Cu-Pb-Zn-Ba) stream anomalies in the north eastern portion of the project. Based on aeromagnetic data, these anomalies may represent the strike extensions of the same sequence that hosts the Koongie Park VMS deposits.