Central Guadalcanal
This Tenement is located in the centre of Guadalcanal. ARM conducted exploration in 1996 and 1997 over the Chupukama area which was considered by Freeport to be the most promising prospect in what was then Freeport 's tenements.
Cliffs in the Ongonga Gorge contain silica-pyrite altered breccia zones and clay-silica-pyrite altered andesites. Trachyandesites and diorite porphyry are exposed in the Ongonga Gorge. 0.5m wide quartz veins strike to the northwest, and a zone of clay banded with pyrite is exposed to the north. These host rocks and the alteration styles and associated mineralisation are indicative of a mineralised porphyry system exposed at a high level where epithermal gold mineralisation should occur.
ARM has carried out four field programmes over the Chupukama area outlining a north-east trending gold zone anomalous over a width of 155m with a 20m core zone. South-west extensions of this zone into the Ongonga Creek may be in echelon/peripheral lower grade faults and shears. This gold zone appears open to the north-east and it is intended that it be prospected/augered (deep) or drilled depending on results from the initial drilling. The Directors believe this structure may be much more extensive to the northeast than work has so far indicated.
It is significant that the sampling of landslide scarps at Chupukama Ridge seems to have been done because they were an outcrop capable of being sampled, rather than for any particular geological reasons. Nevertheless grades up to 13.04g/t gold were returned. More importantly, virtually the entire width of a 200m landslide contained detectable gold (as did the other 4 scarps) and gave a wide low grade unweighted intercept across the scarp of 155m at 0.54g/t gold. The Directors believe that these results indicate the potential for a significant tonnage low-grade gold resource at Chupukama Ridge.
The remainder of the Tenement has not yet been explored by ARM. The Chupukama Ridge Tenement displays geology similar to the Gold Ridge area with alteration and mineralisation occurring in intermediate intrusive rocks, conglomerate and agglomerate. The prospect is located only 8km to the south west of Gold Ridge. Independent assessment of the prospectivity by Kenex has identified a further prospect 3km to the south west and a target 4km to the west north-west of Chupukama.
This prospect and an area of very strong magnetic anomalism in the Itina River Basin to the west is currently under investigation by Solomon Gold field crews and results are awaited.
