Apollo Hill Overview
The Apollo Hill Project is situated in the heart of the world-class Eastern Goldfields district in Western Australia.
Apollo Hill Project Location
The Project is located approximately 650 km NE of Perth and approximately 50 km SE of the gold mining and processing town of Leonora.
Access to the Project is via the bituminised Goldfields Highway heading northeast from Kalgoorlie. The Project is readily accessible by way of a network of dirt roads, station roads and historical mining tracks.
Several multi-million-ounce gold deposits are known in the district.
Eastern Goldfields Gold Endowment
The Apollo Hill Project comprises 29 highly prospective gold exploration and prospecting licences (approximately 1,500 km² of ground), including two mining leases and twelve water exploration leases. The Project’s major asset is the Apollo Hill 2022 JORC Compliant Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource of 76 Mt @ 0.6 g/t Au for 1,469,000 ounces of gold using a cut-off grade of 0.23 g/t Au reported within an optimised pit shell (maximum depth of the resource at 180 m below surface).
The Apollo Hill tenements are close to excellent infrastructure and form contiguous tenure.
Apollo Hill Project
Apollo Hill Resource
Potential For Rapid Growth
The Apollo Hill gold deposit is the cornerstone of Saturn’s Apollo Hill portfolio.
The Apollo Hill Gold Resource was upgraded to 76 Mt @ 0.6 g/t Au for 1,469,000 ounces of gold reported above a cut-off grade of 0.23 g/t Au within an optimised pit shell1. This robust mineral resource upgrade was based on drilling completed by Saturn in 2022.
For further detailed information in respect to the resource, refer to the ASX announcement ‘Apollo Hill Gold Resource Upgraded to 1.47 MOZ’ (2 May 2022) on this website, which includes the relevant JORC compliance Table 1.
Oblique view 3D Representations of the May 2022 Apollo Hill Mineral Resource model and selected pit optimisation with topography.
May 2022 Apollo Hill Mineral Resource
Excellent Results at Apollo Hill – subsequent to the May 2022 Resource Upgrade
Saturn is undertaking one of its most aggressive and successful drill campaigns since listing. Work is focussing on cultivating the next step in Apollo Hill’s mineral resource profile.
Leverage – strong grades in pivotal positions
- Multiple higher-grade intersections were returned underneath and adjacent to the Apollo Hill Mineral Resource Whittle pit shell1. Results included:
- 12 m @ 5.75 g/t Au from 2 m including 8 m @ 8.83 g/t Au from 6 m – AHRC0480
- 2 m @ 63.05 g/t Au from 8 m – AHRC0479
- 8 m @ 4.28 g/t Au from 72 m including 4 m @ 8.34 g/t Au from 72 m – AHRC0477
- 15 m @ 2.09 g/t Au from 79 m including 7 m @ 3.84 g/t Au from 87 m – AHRC0502
Quality – demonstrated improvements
- Resource Infill drilling demonstrated improvements in strip ratio potential, mineralisation continuity, understanding on mineralisation controls and localised grade opportunities. Excellent near surface intersections included:
- 54 m @ 3.72 g/t Au from 43 m including 33 m @ 5.80 g/t Au from 49 m – AHRC0618
- 12 m @ 5.79 g/t Au from 22 m – AHRC0535
- 45 m @ 1.58 g/t Au from 0 m including 14 m @ 2.88 g/t Au from 0 m and 12 m @ 1.5 g/t Au from 28 m – AHRC0590
- 65 m @ 0.96 g/t Au from 43 m including 25 m @ 1.7 g/t Au from 48 m inc. 8 m @ 3.13 g/t Au from 57 m – AHRC0610
Growth – Successful step out drilling significantly extends the Apollo Hill gold system
- Step out intersections have extended the Apollo Hill gold system with several near surface gold intersections returned in a 1.4 km long and broad corridor between Ra and Tefnut immediately south of Apollo Hill. Significant intersections include:
- 21 m @ 1.82 g/t Au from 57m – AHRC0646
- 12 m @ 1.32 g/t Au from 124m including 4 m @ 2.99 g/t Au from 129 m – AHRC0655
- 8 m @ 9.47 g/t Au from 102m including 3 m @ 24.92 g/t Au from 102 m – AHRC0647
- 19 m @ 1.18 g/t Au from 26m including 10 m @ 2.01 g/t Au from 26 m – AHRC0621
Apollo Hill Development
- Simple metallurgy – Apollo’s biggest cost differentiator.
- Preliminary economic assessment studies underway.
- Pilot plant design concept 1 Mt @ 0.6 g/t Au for 19.5 koz mined and 14 koz recovered, strip ratio <0.85:1.
Scalability
- Low 2s strip ratio, more ounces in shell.
- Thick ore zones +100 m.
- Bulk tonnage.
- Bigger selective mining units, economies of scale and lower operating cost.
- Expanded pit shell to 250 m – modest depth by current standards.
- ‘Base load’ ounces.
- Targeting big, efficient equipment.
Metallurgy
- Efficient, low-cost recovery route.
- Excellent recovery – +74%–85% in columns.
- Flat grade recovery curve – +77% at 0.2 g/t Au, allows low cut off grades.
- Rapid leach times >80% in 21 days.
- Coarse crush – 8 mm, low energy use.
- Simple fresh rock, free gold in quartz mineralogy.
- Rock – strong percolation 14,000 l/m²/hr.
- Excellent cyanidation ~1 kg/t consumed.
- Low agglomeration – only 3 kg/t cement required.
- High pressure grinding roll (HPGR) efficiency.
- Conventional mill and CIL optionality: excellent recovery at coarse grind sizes with high gravity gold content – 91.8% achieved at 250 µm P80 grind – with 56% by gravity.
Preliminary Economic Studies Underway
- Initially targeting 10 Mtpa for 8 years from current resource.
- +100 koz per annum recovered in low-cost production scenario.
- Preliminary site layout being considered.
- Preliminary plant costings and operating cost assessment underway.
Apollo Hill Camp Scale Opportunity
Satellite prospects developing
- ~1,000 km² of greenfields land package starting to yield results (60 km long position in the greenstone belt);
- 60% of ground package under cover and untested.
New systems and satellite prospects identified in Aircore at Calypso Bob’s, Hercules, Aquarius and Artemis.
Au contours highlight a camp scale opportunity
Apollo Hill
District Prospectivity
The tenement holdings are dissected by the district scale, Keith Kilkenny Lineament, which is a complex system of northwest oriented shearing, faulting and gold prospective geology.
This lineament is known to be associated with significant gold deposits in the region including St Barbara’s Sons of Gwalia Mine located 40-50 km to the northwest (2.4 million ounces of gold in reserves on 30 June 2017), and Saracen’s Carosue Dam Operation, approximately 130 km to the southeast (+1 Moz production to-date through various owners).
At the Apollo Hill Project, this shear zone is mainly concealed beneath transported overburden and previous surface geochemical sampling and shallow RAB/AC drilling has consequently been of limited effectiveness. Saturn Metals is in the process of creating new geological and geophysical data sets, which have the potential to completely re-write the geology and prospectivity of our strategic land package. This could offer much opportunity for further exploration success.
As a result of geological interaction with the Keith Kilkenny Lineament, the tenement package contains many areas of structural and lithological complexity theoretically favourable for gold mineralisation.
Prospects identified within the Project include:
- Hercules
- Calypso
- Bob’s
- Aquarius
- Artemis
These prospects are summarised on the following pages and Quarterly reports. For further details, please refer to Saturn’s Quarterly Report and the Independent Geologist’s Report of the Prospectus, which are published on this website.
Apollo Hill Regional
Calypso – 3.5 km east of the Apollo Hill Mineral Resource
Calypso sits within the Apollo Hill Super Structure, approximately 3.5 km east of the Apollo Hill resource area. Previous drilling discovered thick high grade gold intersections in alluvial gravels.
New wide spaced AC lines have provided a successful 200–300 m step out from the gravel gold intercepts and have identified a nearby primary rock source of gold. Gold is associated with quartz veining, shearing and granitic porphyry intrusive rocks, which are all associated with significant gold deposits across the Goldfields.
Follow up infill and extensional AC drilling is now underway to target a higher-grade basement source for the excellent alluvial intercepts.
Intercepts include:
- 9 m @ 8.67 g/t alluvial gold from 116 m in BBRC0003
- 16 m @ 0.54 g/t bedrock Au from 92 m – AHAC1347
- 12 m @ 0.49 g/t bedrock Au from 98 m including 4 m @ 0.91 g/t Au from 102 m – AHAC1431
- 8 m @ 0.57 g/t bedrock Au from 88 m – AHAC1348
- 4 m @ 0.45 g/t bedrock Au from 94 m – AHAC1349
Oblique 3D section view of the Calypso Prospect
Apollo Hill Regional
Hercules – 15 km southeast of the Apollo Hill Mineral Resource
Regional exploration AC and RC discovered a significant zone of gold bearing mineralisation at Hercules. Drilling increased the strike length of the Hercules mineralised zone to
over 2 km, with intersections returned including:
- 20 m @ 2.27 g/t Au from 24 m including 8m @ 5.17 g/t Au from 24 m – AHAC0925
- 8 m @ 1.06 g/t Au from 28 m – AHAC0865
- 4 m @ 4.57 g/t Au from 54 m – AHRC0836
- 8 m @ 1.06 g/t Au from 28m – AHAC0865
Oblique 3D plan view looking southeast
Southwest–northeast cross-section of Hercules prospect
Apollo Hill Regional
Aquarius – 25 km southeast of the Apollo Hill Mineral Resource
Several zones of coherent mineralisation, hidden under cover have been identified at Aquarius. Significant intersections include:
- 13 m @ 1.32 g/t Au from 56 m including 4 m @ 4.31 g/t Au from 56 m – AHAC0464
- 4 m @ 1.86 g/t Au from 64 m within 9 m @ 0.69 g/t Au from 64 m – AHAC0763
- 4 m @ 1.26 g/t Au from 72 m within 12 m @ 0.63 g/t Au from 68 m – AHAC0746
Aquarius north–south cross-section.
Aquarius east–west cross-section.
Apollo Hill Regional
Artemis – 10 km northwest of the Apollo Hill Mineral Resource
The Artemis area provides Saturn with a greenfields discovery opportunity. Subtle geochemical anomalism at Artemis is located within the greater Hades Shear zone, approximately 3 km northwest of the Apollo Hill resource area. Anomalism and minor gold workings are known on the Hera, Artemis and Ares Trends. The Gaia-Ares-Iris trend could hold great potential as it is interpreted to be the structural intersection of the northwest extension of the Apollo Hill Shear and continuation of the same gold prospective greenstone sequence that hosts the Apollo Hill and Ra resources.
Regional reconnaissance AC and follow up AC discovered and lengthened the Artemis system to 800 m in strike length. Significant intersections returned include:
- 4 m @ 4.08 g/t Au from 40 m within 33 m @ 0.73 g/t Au from 24 m – AHAC0672
- 4 m @ 0.49 g/t Au from 40 m and 4 m @ 0.53 g/t Au from 60 m – AHRC0880
Artemis – A large area of subtle geochemical anomalism, old workings and sparse drill testing on major geological structures and gold prospective stratigraphy
Artemis – prospect location
Artemis – interpreted mineralisation trend
Apollo Hill Regional
Bob’s – 7 km east of the Apollo Hill Mineral Resource
Extensional RC and step out AC during 2021 confirmed Bob’s is a large gold system.
Results returned continued to build the understanding of the mineralisation along Bob’s 3.5 km strike length, with higher grade gold vectors remaining open for additional drill targeting. Intersections include:
- 5 m @ 6.82 g/t Au from 130 m – AHRC0825
- 10 m @ 2.96 g/t Au from 126 m – AHRC0834
- 3 m @ 3.41 g/t Au from 215 m – AHRC0833
