Ophir Project Map
The Ophir project encompasses the area of the first payable gold discovery in NSW. The ensuing gold mining rush changed the course of Australia’s history. Despite this colourful origin, the area has been subject to very little modern exploration, with only a few recorded drillholes.
Initial mining at Ophir was from alluvials and deep leads below the Tertiary basalt but this quickly gave way to reef mining. Little is recorded about this mining, as most mining took place prior to the formation of the NSW Department of Mines in 1875. Quartz stockworks are reported, hosted in slates. Modern mapping confirms that the known reef gold is located in a number of discontinuous quartz filled fractures.
Much of the historically worked alluvial gold appears to be sourced from upstream of the known reefs, implying a hard rock source yet to be identified. This may be of similar style to the nearby Hill End goldfield, where gold was mined from rich quartz reefs. More likely the hard rock mineralization was not recognized by the old timers because it is more disseminated, and could be similar in style to the massive Sukhoi Log deposit in Siberia.
The western parts of the Ophir tenement cover volcanic sequences known to be prospective for base metal deposits, which often have associated gold. Previous exploration located an unexplained copper anomaly in volcanics which will be followed up by Commissioners Gold. Structurally controlled mineralization is likely at the contact between the stronger volcanic sequence and the more ductile slate sequence.
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