Overview of Projects
Introduction
Rubicon Resources Limited (Rubicon) controls approximately 5,300 km² of prospective tenements in four main project areas and individual tenements in Western Australia. Rubicon's project portfolio consists of large contiguous areas within highly mineralised provinces, including the Western Australian Goldfields (Yindarlgooda, Celia, and Desdemona) and the Musgrave Province.
The Company has 100% ownership and exploration rights to the majority of its tenements, but within the Yindarlgooda and Desdemona projects, Heron Resources Limited either retains nickel exploration and mining rights on Rubicon tenements overlying ultramafic rocks or retains the tenement and Rubicon has all non-nickel exploration and mining rights.
Project Summaries
The Celia Project comprises approximately 1,300 km² of tenure over the southern part of the Laverton Tectonic Zone, one of Australia's most productive gold provinces. Mainly acquired through open ground acquisition during 2009, Rubicon has secured tenure adjacent to and along strike of the Sunrise Dam, Granny Smith, Safari Bore, Butcher Well and Kangaroo Bore gold deposits. The leases also encompass parts of the ultramafic belt that hosts the Eucalyptus Bore nickel laterite mineralisation. Rubicon has focussed its non-joint venture exploration, including substantial drilling, through 2010 at Celia.
The Warburton Project comprises 2,000 km² of exploration licences within the western Musgrave Province. This largely unexplored terrain has the potential for stratabound sediment-hosted copper (eg. Mt Isa and Michigan Copper belt), magmatic copper-nickel, uranium and gold as demonstrated by previous exploration and Rubicon's work to date. The Warburton Project is partly being explored in joint venture with a major Rubicon shareholder Vale Australia EA Pty Ltd, which is funding expenditure to earn an initial 51% interest in the project. Vale may earn up to 75% of the project by sole funding all work up to a decision to mine.
The Yindarlgooda Project comprises approximately 950 km² of tenure centred 50 km east of Kalgoorlie. The project comprises both gold and Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide-style (VMS) base metals occurrences. Known gold mineralisation within Rubicon tenure occurs at Queen Lapage, Taurus and QE1 and Rubicon's tenements are located adjacent to the 400,000 ounce Salt Creek gold deposit. Rubicon has entered into four separate joint ventures with Integra Mining Limited, St Barbara Limited, Dominion Mining Limited and Empire Resources Limited with collective potential earn-in commitments of $7.9 million.
The Desdemona Project now comprises three separate prospect groups to the east and south of Leonora. The prospect areas are the Malcolm tenements under option to St Barbara Ltd, the Bobs Bore gold prospects and the Jeedamya Prospect. At Jeedamya, recent drilling has confirmed the presence of a Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide base metal system, which is interpreted to occur in the southern continuation of the sequence that hosts the Teutonic Bore and Jaguar VMS base metal deposits to the north of Rubicon's tenements.
The Wyloo Project comprises an exploration licence located south of Karratha targeting channel iron deposits beneath recent alluvial drainages.
The Errolls Project is situated immediately northwest of the Barrambie vanadium deposit and contains the interpreted northern extension of the gabbro complex that hosts the Barrambie magnetite-vanadium resource.
The Paddy Well uranium project, located east of Carnarvon, hosts identified primary uranium mineralisation in a vein network system within a chloritic alteration halo, associated with a surficial secondary uranium zone.
