Auckland based mineral explorers are drilling their way into a “monster” gold and copper lode in the troubled Solomon Islands .
London Stock Exchange AIM listed Solomon Gold plc says they believe they have discovered high grade gold and copper deposits in Sutakiki in the rugged central mountains of Guadalcanal.
They say Sutakiki “is potentially a ‘monster’”, while neighbouring sites over a 50 square kilometre area show signs of extensive mineralisation.
Solomon Gold’s exploration subsidiary, Australian Resources Management (ARM), has hired Manurewa based Board Longyear New Zealand Ltd to drill a series of exploratory wells across the prospect.
A four man team arrived in the capital Honiara on Monday. Its drill rig and equipment will be flown in by helicopter to various sites around 20 minutes due south of the main airport at Henderson Field.
ARM operations manager David Jelley told Fairfax from Honiara yesterday that an Australian drill team had already begun drilling and they were awaiting assays results from its first hole.
The drilling programme could go on for years with up to 500 holes needed.
“Depending on the size of the thing it is going to take an enormous number of holes if it is as big as we think,” Mr Jelley said.
“The indications we are seeing on the ground and the results from the first hole, the observations from the first drill hole, we’ve hit something large….
“It’s a positive spin … because we honestly believe we have hit something big and we also believe we have a lot of other prospects in the country.”
Mr Jelley said it had always been postulated that the Solomons was gold rich: “It’s just a matter of getting out and further exploring it.”
The Suva based multi-government South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission in 2001 said the “ Solomon Islands was perhaps the most prospective of the Pacific island nations for minerals after Papua New Guinea (PNG).”
Melanesia is proving a lucrative if troubled region for miners. The Freeport-McMoRan owned Grasberg mine in Indonesia ’s West Papua is the largest gold mine in the world and the third largest copper mine. To the east in PNG the BHP Billiton owned Ok Tedi is the world’s largest copper mine and has substantial gold deposits. PNG’s Lahir Island , east of the main island, 42 million ounces (Moz) of Gold Equivalent Value hosts one of the largest gold mines.
New Caledonia hosts the world’s largest nickel deposits.
Solomon Gold’s major worry will however be two mining controversies. Just across the north-western maritime Solomon’s border with PNG then Australian miner Conzinc Riotinto opened one of the world’s largest open pit mines in Panguna, Bougainville. Local landowners objected and the island descended into a decade long civil war. The mine has never reopened.
Just 12 kilometres north of Sutakiki , Australia ’s Ross Mining opened its Gold Ridge mine in 1998 – just as Guadalcanal descended into civil war.
Australian Solomons Gold – unrelated the London listed stock – is now redeveloping the mine. It is expected to reopen at the end of this year producing 150,000 ounces of gold a year.
Gold Ridge is listed as a 2 Moz resource – in New Zealand ’s Waihi Gold district has yielded, over its life time, a total of 8 Moz gold and 49 Moz silver.
The Solomon Islands has been populated for around 5000 years with Spanards led by Alvaro de Mendana in 1568. Spanish geographers named it believing it was the site of the Biblical King Solomon Mines – although commercial gold has only recently been discovered.