EXPLORATION ROUNDUP — Celtic Minerals expands beyond Newfoundland and into Southeast Asian countries

Calgary-based Celtic Minerals (CME-A) is straddling opposite ends of the world as it expands its portfolio of precious and base mineral properties.

Although the junior has the second-largest land position of any company operating in Newfoundland, it has recently turned its attention to Southeast Asia.

The company has added to its portfolio six Indonesian gold projects, four of which are on Kalimantan, the island where Bre-X Minerals’ (BXM-T) Busang Deposit is situated. The remaining two properties are on the island of Java.

“The strategic position of the company, on land, is that we like a broad approach, [as well as] having elephant exposure in Indonesia,” says David Graham, Celtic’s president.

The projects are joint ventures with state-owned mining company Aneka Tambang, and other Canadian and Indonesian partners.

The 2-year-old company started out with a Canadian focus, acquiring properties in the Voisey’s Bay area of Labrador. Graham isn’t ashamed to admit, however, that Celtic was excited by the Busang discovery.

“We thought about it and decided to do it,” he explains. “We had really good contacts that were well-established there, well-connected politically and knew the geology.”

In July, Celtic signed a memorandum of understanding with Aneka Tambang to acquire interests in two properties on Java. As a result, Celtic, which will act as operator and fund exploration to the final feasibility stage, now holds a 70% interest in the Kebasen and 75% of the Karang Sambung.

The 9,000-ha Kebasen concession block is in central Java, near the town of Purwokerto, where Celtic plans to set up a project office. The area also has good roads and infrastructure, Graham says, adding, “We can rapidly advance on Java.”

Gold at Kebasen has been found in boulders in streams along both sides of a 10-km-long ridge. Boulder assays include 4.4 grams, 7.4 grams and 8 grams gold per tonne.

In September, the company’s Indonesian exploration team discovered breccia pipes at two separate locations on the property: the Wonosari and Ijo.

Five structurally controlled alteration zones have been identified to date, and an additional 2.5 sq. km of prospective land have been staked. The most significant zone is Wonosari, the breccia pipe of which is hosted within a linear alteration zone 40 to 120 metres wide. That zone has been traced for more than 500 metres, and is open to the southwest.

The zone widens toward the property’s main ridge, and radar imagery supplied by Aneka Tambang suggests this and other structures may extend for several kilometres.

Samples taken from Wonosari returned such pathfinder elements as mercury, arsenic and antimony, as well as anomalous gold values. The company says these findings are indicative of the upper level of an epithermal gold system.

Follow-up petrological analysis shows the presence of alunite, a clay mineral characteristic of high sulphidation gold systems.

Celtic has planned programs of delineation and trenching at the zone and its extensions. The company also plans to define the other four zones further.

The 9,100-ha Karang Sambung property is fewer than 40 km from Kebasen, near the town of Kebumen. Major northeast- and northwest-trending structures transect the property, which displays extensive alteration and gold mineralization in three streams. Heavy mineral concentrates in three drainage areas on the property indicate the presence of coarse gold.

On Kalimantan, Celtic owns 25% of the 28,830-ha Balairiam contract of work (CoW) in the Trans-Kalimantan gold belt, the trend that hosts the Mt. Muro, Mirah and Busang deposits.

Other companies involved in that joint venture include: operator East Indies Mining (EIMC-C), which holds 40%; Halifax-based Jilbey Exploration (JLB-M), which holds 25%; and Aurum Framindos of Indonesia, which holds 10%. Celtic and Jilbey will jointly fund US$500,000 in exploration costs over five years.

The 11,320-ha Lamandau CoW, north of Balairiam, is a joint venture held 40% by Celtic, 40% by Jilbey, 10% by Aurum Framindos, and 10% by operator East Indies. Celtic and Jilbey will jointly fund US$200,000 in exploration spending there.

The 16,640-ha Tumbang Hiram West CoW, 50 km northwest of the Mirah gold deposit, is a joint venture among Celtic (which holds 40%), Jilbey (30%), operator East Indies (20%) and Anjansamba Kencana (10%). Celtic and Jilbey will jointly fund the first US$250,000 in exploration spending.

The Rukun Damai CoW is an 11,380-ha property 35 km northeast of the Kelian mine and 70 km southwest of the Busang deposit. Celtic, the operator, and Olympic Resources (ORL-V), which are equal partners in the joint venture, will spend US$100,000 during the 1996 field season.