Newmont Corporation, through its subsidiary Newmont Exploration Pty Ltd, has commenced drilling at the Fairholme Copper-Gold JV Project in the Lachlan Fold Belt, New South Wales. This generative air core drilling program targets several geophysical anomalies that resemble Evolution Mining’s Northparkes copper-gold mine, characterized by circular magnetic lows within broader magnetic highs.
Koonenberry Gold holds a 51% interest in the Fairholme JV Project (EL 9467), with Newmont earning up to 80% through a $5 million expenditure. Newmont has already spent approximately $1.14 million on exploration by the end of January 2025. Koonenberry will be free carried up to $15 million of expenditure by Newmont if Newmont chooses to elect. The Fairholme project is within a world-class mining province with over 88 million ounces of gold and copper discovered. Koonenberry believes the Fairholme project is prospective for Northparkes-style porphyry systems and potentially intermediate sulphidation Cowal-style epithermal systems. The Fairholme igneous complex is one of the least explored portions of the Junee-Narromine Belt.
The drilling program will test five target areas: Barrington, Barrington North, Crossroads, Packwood, and Birrork. The Barrington target, a magnetic low feature within a large-scale magnetic high complex, coincides with a gravity high, suggesting a shallow depth to basement and potential silicic hydrothermal alteration. The Barrington North target, a magnetic high complex in a structural corridor, presents similarities to the E22 & E27 orebodies at Northparkes. Crossroads, a subtle magnetic low within a larger magnetic high complex, is targeted on the margin of a regional-scale gravity low. The Packwood target involves a magnetic high anomaly at a jog in a regional-scale linear magnetic feature. The Birrork target is characterized by a high-amplitude magnetic high complex containing a 600m diameter circular magnetic low, comparable to the geophysical response of the Northparkes orebodies.
Previous exploration, including 32 air core holes, identified a gold in air core anomaly of >0.10g/t Au centred on a high amplitude magnetic high feature at the Lachlee Au-Cu porphyry prospect. A highlight gold intersection of 24m @ 0.13g/t Au from 84m, incl. 12m @ 0.18g/t (FHAC005) was returned. Anomalous Te-Se-Cu pathfinder geochemistry is observed in the southern portion of the Lachlee drilling area, returning broad copper plumes including 46m @ 0.05% Cu from 86m to EOH (FHAC010) and 21m @ 0.07% Cu from 95m (FHAC008).
