Zlatá Baňa
The Zlatá Baňa licence area is located in the east of Slovakia 24km NE of the town of Košice. It is an area of historic mining activity with the main interest being for gold and silver mineralisation. The licence area was extensively explored over the period 1960-90 through more than 120 holes and some 4,000m of underground development in three adits.
Ortac has recently completed a programme of confirmation drilling
at Zlatá Baňa.
Ortac has recently completed a programme of confirmation drilling at Zlatá Baňa.
Ortac has recently completed a programme of confirmation drilling at Zlatá Baňa.
The licence covers an area of epithermal polymetallic mineralisation 3km long and 1km wide in the central zone of the Zlatá Baňa andesitic stratavolcano. The mineralisation comprises galena, sphalerite, pyrite and chalcopyrite with silver associated with Ag-Sb-Pb sulphosalts and gold in tellurides or as small inclusions in sulphides and vein minerals (carbonates and quartz). This mineralisation fills steeply dipping fractures and fault zones with an average thickness of 1.1m. The horizontal length of the veins or stockwork structures is up to 500m and the maximum depth of mineralisation established from drilling is 500-600m. High-grade "bonanza" mineralisation related to oxidation and supergene zones in the upper part of the deposit was mined in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Historic exploration data is limited to graphical documentation (core logs, surface and underground maps and written reports). Although the analytical data is of uncertain quality, crushed drill and underground channel samples have been found in a core shed at Betliar, 60km west of Košice. These will be re-analysed. The adit entrances have collapsed but they could possibly be at least partially entered and re-sampled.
Stibnite mineralisation occurs in quartz veins and veinlets with an average thickness of 0.1m and a maximum thickness of 2m. Zones of intense silicification and pyrite impregnation that can be up to 15m wide surround the mineralised zones. The stibnite occurs as irregular veinlets and disseminations in a pyritic assemblage. Galena and sphalerite, together with Pb-Sb-Ag sulphosalts, form a breccia matrix in several tectonic zones. The average gold grade in the stibnite veinlets is around 1g/t Au with a maximum of 4g/t Au, while the gold grade in the silicified and pyritised zones is less than 1g/t Au.
A large potassium metasomatite deposit is located 500m to the NE of the Zlatá Baňa deposit. It is of substantial size and similar to others in the Carpathians that are related to precious metal mineralisation.
A resource estimate was reported in 2008 based on historic mining records. This is of combined (Z2 and Z3) category, using the Slovak "reserve" classification system. These categories correspond roughly with the Indicated and Inferred resource categories of the JORC Code (2004). However, because of uncertainty as to the reliability of the analytical results and lack of information regarding the resource estimation method, the resources should only be seen as being an indication of potential at this stage. Three cut-off variants of this estimate are given below.
Zlatá Baňa Z2 and Z3 Resources (Non JORC Compliant) |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variant | Resource Mt | Pb % | Zn % | Au g/t | Ag g/t | Au Eq. g/t * |
| I | 5.86 | 0.99 | 1.96 | 1.04 | 35.04 | 3.04 |
| II | 2.23 | 1.23 | 3.05 | 1.64 | 51.16 | 4.52 |
| III | 0.53 | 1.90 | 3.76 | 2.48 | 68.49 | 6.2 |
* Based on recoveries of Pb: 80%; Zn: 70%; Au and Ag 90%
The resources above are not compliant with an international standard recognised under the AIM Rules and are provided for information only.
Ortac has recently completed a programme of confirmation drilling and aims to re-evaluate and re-model the Zlatá Baňa deposit during the first half of 2012. This work should enable the Company to estimate the Mineral Resources in accordance with the requirements of the JORC Code (2004) and make a decision as to whether or not the deposit justifies further exploration effort.
