Emperor Red Lion/Berukoff had control of the Emperor mine at Vatakoula but divested it and kept Tuvatu. The 2 deposits are only 22 miles apart, on trend. ( a lot shorter if you measure from the NE corner of the new tenements) The original resource at Emperor before mining started in the thirties, was 10-11 million oz. au.
- “The Emperor (Vatukoula) Mine sits within a true world class mineralization system… one of the 10 largest epithermal gold systems ever discovered”
The average gold grade since commencement of mining in the early 1930s has been about 9 g=t but with localized bonanza grades in excess of 2,000 g=t. (
1,600 g/t for half meter was drilled at Tuvatu ) Here are some excerpts from an abstact from 2006 called [url=file:///C:/Users/Carl/Downloads/EmperorMineralogyPetrology.pdf]Tuvatu Gold-Silver Telluride [/url]
- The similar igneous lithological units of almost identical age, transition from porphyry- to epithermal-style mineralization, paragenetic relationships, and comparable fluid inclusion and stable isotope data suggest a common origin for sulfide and gold telluride mineralization at the Tuvatu and Emperor deposits. Potential exists for additional epithermal gold telluride mineralization near volcanic centers in shoshonitic rocks (Ba and Koroimavua Volcanic groups) spatially related to the Viti Levu lineament in northern Viti Levu.
- Porphyry copper-style mineralization occurs at the center of the Navilawa Monzonite near the transition zone between micromonzonite and monzonite at the Kingston prospect, 1.8 km north of the Tuvatu deposit
- Porphyry-style copper mineralization occurs in the northern part of the deposit in the northwest- to southeast-trending H and Tuvatu lodes, which are 5 to 40 m wide and dip moderately to the northeast. The Tuvatu lode is characterized by potassic alteration of the wall rock consisting of coarsegrained apatite, orthoclase, magnetite, pyrite, chalcopyrite , and optically and compositionally zoned biotite In the H lode, epithermal gold veins locally crosscut porphyry copper-style mineralization.
- Pyrite is by far the most abundant sulfide in the Tuvatu deposit and is the major host of native gold, tellurides, and invisible gold in arsenic-bearing varieties.
- The source of sulfur for sulfides in the Tuvatu deposit was most likely the Navilawa Monzonite, and local monzonitic stocks were probably also the source of sulfur for the Emperor deposit. These rocks were also the likely sources for other ore-forming components including Au, Ag, Cu, V, and Te.
- Exploration for epithermal gold mineralization along the Viti Levu lineament over the last two decades has identified additional prospects in the shoshonitic Ba and Koroimavua Groups in the Vuda, Ba, and Raki Raki areas and these also may be satellites of the Emperor and Tuvatu deposits. (Perhaps LION should see about picking up the Vuda-Sabeto tenements that Geopacific has, for down the road... since they're not using them)
- The Tuvatu gold-silver telluride deposit with reserves of 13 t Au is the second largest gold deposit in Fiji after the large Emperor gold telluride deposit (production, and proven and probable reserves of 280 t Au). The deposits are 50 km apart and occur along the >250-km east-northeast–trending Viti Levu lineament. They are spatially associated with alkaline rocks of almost identical age (~5.4–4.6 Ma) and having a shoshonitic affinity. The gold mineralization in both deposits is spatially and genetically related to monzonite intrusions and to a low-grade porphyry copper-style system. The Emperor deposit occurs along the margins of the Tavua volcano whereas the Tuvatu deposit may occur adjacent to an eroded shoshonite volcano. At both locations, low-sulfidation, epithermal gold telluride mineralization occurs in flat-lying veins, steep faults, shatter zones, stockworks, and hydrothermal breccias. Mineralization in both deposits formed in multiple stages and is characterized by the presence of quartz-roscoelite telluride veins in which gold-rich tellurides were deposited prior to silver-rich tellurides.
..........Most of the rest of the abstract is a slog,not being a geologist, but it seems to boil down to:
.....yes, they're brother deposits. .................. A couple of years ago, (how time flys), I posted a video of a Tuvatu presentation from a metals conference. (the video was soon after taken off Youtube). Stephen Mann was the enthused presenter who at one point called
Vatakoula, "Tuvatu's little brother". Just as he was saying this , they cut to a slide so you couldn't see his expression, but I imagine he was smiling. After all, It's a funny statement when you know your comparison is with a mine with so much more proved resource...
....................But, he also knows that the Tuvatu-Navilawa story is just beginning.