EXPLORATION ROUNDUP — Omax targets Indonesian prospects

Australian-based Omax Resources (OMX-V) is restricting its exploration initatives to Indonesia, having amassed properties in Java, as well as Sumatra, Kalimantan and Halmahera.

The company operates contracts of work (CoWs) on three islands, including Tanjung Balit in Sumatra, Lolasita in Halmahera and Tempurung East in West Kalimantan.

In Java, where CoWs are not permitted, the company has entered profit-sharing agreements with local groups on two gold projects: Limbung, in which it holds a 40% interest, and Ciemas, in which it holds 25%.

The 14,000-ha Limbung property, 150 km south of Jakarta, was explored in the past by state-owned Aneka Tambang, which delineated two large epithermal vein systems hosted by dacite intrusions. Resources stand at 3.5 million tonnes grading 4.6% zinc and 2.4% lead, with strongly anomalous precious metals.

Aneka Tambang operates the largest producing gold mine in Java, the Gunung Pongkor, which abuts the eastern boundary of Limbung and where reserves are estimated at 3.1 million oz. gold and 30 million oz. silver. The mine currently produces 70,000 oz. gold per year.

Omax believes base metal resources at Gunung Pongkor are part of a larger epithermal system, and so, at Limbung, the company will focus on exploring for down-faulted mineralization and auriferous portions of known vein systems close to surface.

At the nearby 12,000-ha Ciemas project, 200 km south of Jakarta, gold was discovered about 10 years ago, resulting in a gold rush by local artisanal miners.

Structurally controlled epithermal veins in a large alteration system extend over an area measuring 5 by 4 km. The large vein system is hosted by andesitic volcanics, volcaniclastics and dacite intrusions. The more prominent veins occur along a northwest-trending belt and are often continuous over strike lengths of up to 2.5 km.

Previous exploration at Ciemas included diamond and reverse-circulation drilling, trenching and geochemistry. Gold mineralization is widespread in the vein system, with float and rock chip samples having returned up to 122 grams gold. The highest values came from an area where a 6-metre interval in a shallow trench returned 19.8 grams gold.

The recently acquired Temperung project comprises 110,000 ha and consists of altered intrusives and volcanics. Little modern exploration has been conducted on the property, where gold mineralization is hosted by altered breccia pipes and stockworks in felsic intrusions of Miocene age.

Meanwhile, diamond drilling is under way at the Tanjung Balit project, where previous work yielded numerous high-grade lead, zinc, silver and gold intercepts. Mineralization on the 220-sq.-km CoW consists of en echelon base metal sulphide veins in a shear zone measuring up to 50 metres wide and traced over 1 km.

“We should start getting assay results [from Tanjung Balit] in the second week of December,” says Operations Director David Benham. “We’re into mineralization at 75 metres in the first hole.”

Tanjung Balit is the only Omax project where diamond drilling is in progress; the others are scheduled to undergo deep diamond drilling beginning in early 1997.

Omax Chairman Louis Clinton says the company is focusing only on low-cost projects that have been subjected to some earlier exploration.

Adds Benham: “The critical thing in Southeast Asia is planning. You must know where you’re going to drill in six months, and where the drill is going to come from. Planning of exploration is far more critical [there] than in North America or Australia.”

The Perth-based company has 16.1 million shares outstanding.