PROCEEDINGSOFTHESULAWESIMINERALRESOURCES2011SEMINARMGEIIAGI

2829November2011,Manado,NorthSulawesi,Indonesia

TheGeologyandAuMineralisationSystemintheTotopoWestProspect,
Gorontalo,Indonesia

BudiBudiman*,IipHardjana**,Hermadi**

*PacificPorphyrySI,Ltd
**JResourcesNusantara

ABSTRACT

TheTotopoGoldProspectislocatedwithinavolcanoplutonicarcsettingwithbasalticandesiticlavasofEocene
Mioceneagecoveredbyvolcanogeniccarbonatesedimentaryrocksintrudedbybatholiths,stocksanddykesasa
result of southeastward subduction and then overlain by PlioPliocene rhyoliticdacitic flows and pyroclastics
relatedtoasubductioninanorthwestdirection.TheMiocenesubductionformedEWtoESEtrendingarcparallel
and NW to NNWstriking transfer lineaments. Subsequent arc reversal in Pliocene to Recent times resulted in
subduction in a northwest direction reactivating the NW trending Miocene structures and forming NEENE
trendingdilationalfaults.Thecomplexityofthistectonicsettinggivesafavourablegeologicalenvironmentforgold
deposition,focusedbylocallithologicalandstructuralsettings.

Hostedbyrhyodaciticvolcanic,theTotopoGoldProspectencompassesalargeareaoflowsulphidationepithermal
alterationcontrolledbytheNEENEdilationalstructures.Pullapartbasinandgrabenstructuresformedtiltingthe
system such that epithermallyaltered PlioPleistocene rocks are preserved in the west with erosion down to
Miocene basement strata in the east. The gold mineralisation is associated with quartzadulariabase metal
sulphide veins and stockworks, enveloped by silica alteration and broad pervasive illitekaolinitesmectite
alteration.

TheareawasexploredbyNewcrestfrom19951999whoundertookstreamsedimentsamplingandscoutdrilling
programmesalongwithaeromagneticandradiometricsurveys.Amoredetaileddrillingprogrammeintheeastern
partoftheprospectfailedtofindasignificantdepositastheareawasdeeplyeroded.AvocetMiningevaluatedthe
areaandfocussedexplorationinTotopoWestin20072008carryingoutInducedPolarisationgeophysicalsurveys,
partialleachgridsoilsampling,drillprogrammesanddetailedloggingofepithermalveinfabrics,andsuccessfully
defined a gold deposit called Bundulipu. The Bundulipu consists of parallel pinch and swell shaped zones in a
dominantENEWSWdirectionwithaminimumlengthof600mandwidthsvaryingfrom1m30m.Thegoldtenorof
drillholesamplesisfairlyhigh(i.e.>5.0g/tAu),however,thehighgradesfoundaredeepandtendtobenarrow.
An Inferred Mineral Resource estimate of 5.4MT @ 3 g/t Au for 500,000 oz Au was estimated, but this has not
beendevelopedinaccordancewiththeJORCCode(2004).

Drilling has not yet defineda bonanza zone at Bundulipu or fully tested the mineralisation in thewhole area. A
numberofalterationandgoldmineralisationoccurrencesatTotopostillremainunderexploredincludingareasin
thewestandmiddlepartoftheTotopoGoldProspect.

INTRODUCTION The area is a part of a Contract of Work (CoW)

The Totopo epithermal lowsulphidation as one
of the best prospects defined during extensive
regional mineral exploration in Gorontalo area
during 1980 and 1990s located about one
kilometretotheSouthofTransSulawesiHighway
nearBumelatownwasrelativelyunderexplored
until 2007 when an exploration campaign was
heldatthewesternpartofTotopo.
granted in July 20, 1994 to Newcrest Indonesia,
Pty.Ltd.inGorontalo(formerlypartoftheNorth
Sulawesi province) and Central Sulawesi
Provinces. In 2007, the remaining COW covering
anareaof20.06sq.km.sinceithasbeenreduced
from original land tenure of 1,129,598.18Ha.
Totopo Area resides about 60km to the West of
Gorontalo,theCapitalcityofGorontaloProvince
Indonesia. Gorontalo has Jalaluddin airport,

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supported by daily basis regular flight from
JakartaandMakassar(Figure1).
The Totopo prospect was discovered in 1995
usingregionalBLEG(BulkLeachExtractableGold)
stream sediment sampling techniques and the
anomalieswerefoundencompassesalargearea
ofabout4kmx3km,spreadoutinEWtrend.The
encouraging results of following exploration
program including soil sampling, aeromagnetic
radiometric surveying, and scout drilling
suggested the works to be more focused at
TotopoEastbuttheprogramwasfailedtofinda
significantdepositastheareawasdeeplyeroded.
In the same time, the economic crisis suffered
the company that left the area remain
underexplored.
The ground review later on, led to the thought
thatthemostpreservedmineralisationwouldbe
on the western part of Totopo. Since 2007,
exploration programme has been focused on
Totopo West which has defined a Bundulipu
Deposit with reported a nonJORC resource of
5.4MT @ 3 g/t Au for 500,000 oz Au using a
sectionalpolygonmethod.
GEOLOGICALSETTINGS
The Totopo District lie within a volcanoplutonic
arcofcretaceoustorecentagewhichisextends
along the west side of Sulawesi, through
NorthernSulawesiandSangiheIslandstoeastern
MindanaointhePhilippines(Carlileetal1990in
Santos, 1999). The late tertiary tectonics of
Northern Sulawesi is relatively complicated
(Hamilton 1979 in Santos, 1999). Subduction
during the Miocene is interpreted to have been
terminated by collision of the Sula Platform that
causedarotationofNorthSulawesiby90otoits
current position. A NEtrending belt of Miocene
Andesite volcanic and diorite intrusions occur
along the northern part of North Sulawesi
(Santos,1999).
Subsequent arc reversal in Pliocene to Recent
resulted in subduction in a northwest direction.
InNorthSulawesi,epithermalstylequartzAuAg,
sediment host Au, and carbonate base metal Au
mineralisation all related to this Pliocene to
Recent activity (Santos, 1999). The Sulawesi
Tectonic setting can be seen Figure 2 that show
theregionalgeologyofGorontaloprovince.
A reactivating Miocene NWNNW transfer
lineament during Pliocene formed a NEENE
trending dilational faults due to changing from
Miocenesoutheastwardsubductiontorelatively
northwest direction. This structural preparation
introduced NEENE extensional fault which
provided a space for mineralization. Structural
field data supported this interpretation and
suggests the occurrences of northwest
mineralized structure as conjugate sets of the
extensional structures. Another important
feature of this structural setting is the
development of pullapart basin and graben
structuresatTotopoareawhichtiltingthesystem
such that epithermallyaltered PlioPleistocene
rocksarepreservedinthewestareawitherosion
downtoMiocenebasementstrataintheeast.
TheTotopoareaissituatedattheNWmarginof
a caldera structure. It lies within a structural
depression bounded by major NW to NNW and
NE trending lineaments and faults namely
Bumela, Paguyaman, Solupite, Totopo River,
Bundulipu and Oletanggunga lineaments and
faults(Figure3;Santos,1999).TheNNWstriking
Bumela lineament is an arcparallel regional
feature that eventually follows the EW trending
structuralgrainofthenortharmofSulawesi.The
NE trending Solupite Fault occurs as an
escarpmentandisobscuredintheNEbyarcuate
features. The Oletanggunga Fault cuts through a
steepcliffatOletanggungaHillandmainlypasses
through alluvium and colluviums through a NW
trending offset of the Totopo River. This
structuralsettingandsinistralreactivationofthe
major NW trending structures could have led to
the downthrowing of the SolupiteTotopo River
valleyblock,formingagrabenorpullapartbasin
featureandopeninguptheNEandENEtrending
faults.
Figure4showsasimplifiedinterpretedgeologyof
theTotopoProspect.ThedistributionofMiocene
lithologies at the west part clearly shows a
consequenceofarelativepositionwheretheeast
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Figure1.Geographiclocationoftheproject

Figure2.SulawesiTectonic(Caira,1999)

191
Figure3.RegionalgeologymapofGorontaloProvince

Figure4.WestTotopogeologymap

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block is higher compare to the west. Plio
Pleistocene volcanic rocks, including the
mineralization,arepreservedatthewestdespite
ofitsdownstreamposition.
In the Totopo Prospect, generally, basement
rocks of probably Miocene in age consisting of
volcanic andesite, intruded by polyphasal
batholiths consisting of granodiorite, quartz
diorite and diorite. Unconformably overlying the
basementrocksarePliocenedaciticvolcanic,and
then all of lithologies are intruded by
contemporaneous microdiorite, diorite, and
dacite porphyry dykes. Pleistocene to Recent
colluviums and alluvium occupy the valleys and
majorlineaments.
Totopo West area is underlain by a thick
sequenceofPliocenePleistocenerhyoliticdacitic
volcanic rocks consisting of lithic tuffs, crystal
tuffs and ash tuffs. These are intruded by
porphyritic dacite domes which can be
recognised in several locations by their
protruding shape that may correspond to the
mineralization event at Totopo. The basement
volcanic andesites are exposed in the north
westernpartofWestTotopoandhavealsobeen
encounteredatdepthindrillholes.
The volcanic rhyodacite exhibits a light grey to
whitish colour due to acidintermediate
composition and clay altered feldspars. They are
finecoarse grained, euhedralsubhedral, mainly
composed of quartz and feldspar with minor
biotite and hornblende. Fragments of volcanic
bombs, rhyodacite and mineralised clasts are
commonlyfoundinthelithicsequences.Therock
units gradationally change from ash, lithic, to
mainlycrystallinetufftextures.Thebeddinghasa
shallowmoderate NW dip. Widespread
accretionary lapilli indicates a relatively moist
environment during volcanism and sag textures
ofvolcanicbombsonwetsurfacesoffinegrained
volcanic tuff may indicate the presence of water
during volcanism, i.e. a volcanic lake.
Sedimentary rocks have been recognised in the
northwest of Totopo, mainly occurring as fine
grained laminated sandstone. This appears to
haveaninterfingeringrelationshipwithvolcanic
rhyodacite.
The dacite domes are characterised by grey to
dark grey, finecoarse grained, euhedral,
porphyritic textures, composed of feldspar,
biotite and hornblende with minor quartz. No
alteration has been observed except some clay
andchloritewhichisprobablyduetoweathering
processes.
The basement volcanic andesites are fine
medium grained, porphyritic, mainly composed
offeldsparandbiotite,darkgreenishgreydueto
pervasively chlorite altered. Mostly the original
minerals are hard to recognise but the main
observable characteristic is the magnetic
propertyoftherock.Thevolcanicandesiteswere
intruded by light greygrey diorite/granodiorites.
These are finecoarse grained, porphyritic and
composed of feldspar, quartz, biotite and
hornblende. The euhedralsubhedral crystal
shape is slightly destroyed but no significant
alterationisrecognised.
ALTERATION
Broad areas of pervasively altered country rock
marktheoccurrenceofmineralizationatTotopo
West. There are at least 3 locations of large
altered rock with various level of typical
epithermal lowsulphidation system which are
Bundulipu, OletanggungaLoba, and Solupite
Niwu, with the best geochemistry anomaly is
BundulipuasshownonFigures4and5.
Bundulipu alteration intensities are weak to
stronginabroadargillicalterationenvelopeand
moderate to strong within a more confined
mineralisation zone. Alteration mineral
assemblages comprise distal kaolinitesericite
smectiteillite/smectitechlorite changing to
silicaquartzilliteillite/smectite as thin zones
surrounding the veins/vein zones. Alteration
characterisedbysilicaquartztendtohavebetter
goldtenorthanotheralterationassemblages.
At the surface, protruding hill of Oletanggunga
Loba is characterized by thick silica cap with
vesicular texture and is recognized as an upper
part of alteration system in lowsulphidation.
Adjacent to the hill, trace of alteration mineral
assemblages observed comprise of illite
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illite/smectitekaolinitesilica and closer to the
vein/vein zone, strong but very narrow silica
alterationtendstooccur.
At Solupite, exposures showing alteration are
generally found closest to the Solupite cliff. The
alteration mineral assemblages comprise illite
illite/smectitekaolinitesilica, similar to those in
BundulipuandOletanggungaareas.
MINERALIZATION
Quartzveinandstockworkzonesassociatedwith
broadquartzclayalterationwereemplacedsoon
afterthePliocenefelsicvolcanic.Accumulationof
sinter boulder deposits occurs in the north
western part of Totopo West are believed to be
relatedtolatePliocenePleistocenehydrothermal
activity that introduced extensive quartzclay
alterationandassociatedhighgradegoldquartz
sulphide veining in felsic pyroclastics at the
Bundulipu, OletanggungaLoba, and Solupite
Niwu.
At Bundulipu, the mineralization zones are
veins/veinlets/stockworks of quartzadularia
barite with pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite,
galena,andveryfinegrainedblacksulphidefilling
fractures. Quartz sulphide veins are generally
thin, up to a few cm wide, predominated by
simple geometry (planar) with narrow silica
replacement or phyllic alteration. Vein textures
compriseofsimplebanded,crustiformcolloform,
cockade breccias and bladed that representing
theboilingprocess.
OletanggungaLoba Quartz vein textures are
mainlychalcedonicandsimplebandedsuggestsa
low temperature in accordance to alteration
assemblages. At depth (>200mdh), zone of
strongly silica altered hydrothermally brecciated
rock with cockade textures and disseminated
pyritebasemetalassayedfor310g/tAu.
Some quartz veining at SolupiteNiwu are
characterized by multiple banded multiple
bandedandfinecrystalswithdogtoothtextures,
and returned high assay. It is believed, Solupite
Niwu mineralization level is in between
BundulipuandOletanggungaLoba.
The outline of the mineralisation zone at the
Totopo West veins exhibit various textures and
mineral infill. Multiple stages of mineralisation
events are shown by crosscutting relationships.
The veins are usually brecciated and highly
fractured. Figure 5 shows an example of
mineralisation and alteration crosscutting
relationshipobservedincoreofBundulipu.
GeochemistryandGeophysicsData
Soil sampling programme has been collected
sincethefirstdiscoveryofTotopoProspectboth
as a ridges and spurs and gridsoil sampling. At
least two sampling procedures have been
applied: auger sampling targeting B horizon and
partial leach method. Levelling method using
mean value of both sampling techniques is
applied to analyze soil data. At Totopo West,
anomalies of Au in soil clustered around the
three areas, which is the best area at Bundulipu
asshowninFigure6.
Geophysics Induce Polarization Dipole Dipole
(IPDD) survey results two big clusters of high
resistivityatthelocationknownasOletanggunga
loba and SolupiteNiwu, and very narrow
moderateresistivityatBundulipu(Figure7,Table
1). Chargeability survey results two clusters of
high chargeability at Bundulipu and Solupite
Niwu and moderate at Oletanggungaloba. It
appears here that geophysics survey results can
aid the recognition of mineralization level. Wide
high resistivity and moderate chargeability at
Oletanggungalobamayrepresentthicksilicacap
yetfurtherdownsulphideminerals.Narrowhigh
chargeabilityandmoderateresistivitymayreflect
concentrationofmineralizedbodyatBundulipu.
DrillingProgram
Scout and semiinfill drilling campaign are
conducted at Totopo West in 2008. Of 24
drillholes,15aredrilledatBundulipuasthebest
project and remaining 9 holes are located at
OletanggungaLoba and SolupiteNiwu as scout
drillholes.
AtBundulipu,aSSEtrendfencedrill programme
was planned following the interpreted NEENE
dilational structures as open spaceinfilled
mineralizationwhichwasprovensincethose
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Figure5.Anexampleofmultiplemineralisationandalterationeventsincore(Dacosta,2008)

Figure6.GoldsoilanomalyimageofBundulipuareaatTotopoWest

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Figure7.GeophysicalanomalymapsoftheTotopoWestProspect.Note:highvalueisrepresentedbyredcolour







Table1.InterpretedmineralizationzonetothegeophysicanomaliesatTotopoWest

Relativeposition
Resistivity Chargeability
LocationName toboilingzone
Oletanggunga
highest Wide,High Wide,Low
loba
SolupiteNiwu Middle Wide,High Wide,High
Verynarrow,
Bundulipu nearest Narrow,high
moderate

196


Figure8.Drillholelocationsandsignificantintercepthighlights

Figure9.Representativedrillsectionshowingmineralisedzonesandsignificantdrillintercepts

197
drilllholes were successfully hit mineralization at
depth over area about 500mx500m. The
Bundulipu mineralization interpretation consists
of parallel pinch and swell shaped zones in a
dominant ENEWSW direction with a minimum
lengthof600mandwidthsvaryingfrom1m30m.
Thegoldtenorofdrillcoresamplesisfairlyhigh
(i.e.>5.0g/tAu),however,thehighgradesfound
are deep and the most significant zones as
7.8m@3.74g/t Au from 258mdh including
3m@8.76g/tAufrom259mand13m@2.09g/tAu
from 183mdh including 2m@6.95g/tAu from
187m could not be consider as bonanza (See
Figures8and9).
Apreliminaryresourceestimateofmineralisation
zone was calculated from NWSE crosssections
using a sectionalpolygon method. The
calculationusedastrikelengthof400metresand
a width of 54 metres. Mineralisation was
conservatively inferred to be continuous down
dip to depths between 200300 metres from
surface.
Additional assumptions and constraints adopted
in the preliminary resource calculation are as
follows:
Cutoffgradeis0.5g/tAuwithamaximumof recognized by vein fabrics examination and
2metreswasteallowed.
Topcutvalueis100g/tAu.
The maximum length interpolated in joining
adjacent significant zones of mineralization is
50 metres in both lateral and vertical extent,
except where there is existing drill hole less
than100metresdistance.
In such case, then the maximum length of
interpolation for both lateral and vertical
extentispeggedathalfthedistance.
Resource calculations involve only zones that
can be projected with a fair degree of
confidence. Mapped mineralised zones
excludedinthecalculationduetotheabsence
ofdrilldataarelikelytoupgradetheresource
inthefuture.
The average bulk density adopted was 2.5
t/m3.
On the basis of those parameters, an Inferred
Mineral Resource estimate of 5.4MT @ 3 g/t Au
for 500,000 oz Au at a 0.5g/t au cut off was
calculated, but this has not been developed in
accordancewiththeJORCCode(2004).
DISCUSSIONANDCONCLUSION
The exploration programme at Totopo done by
Avocet is considered as a continuance of well
reportedpreviousexplorationworkatthearea.A
careful data reevaluation and focussed
exploration program at Totopo West of Totopo
prospect,bycarryingoutdetailedgeophysicsand
geochemicalsurveymethodsdirectlyfollowedby
drilling programs and detailed logging of vein
fabrics, are exploration approaches that are
consistently applied that lead to definition of a
golddepositcalledBundulipu.
Drilling programme at Totopo West has not yet
defined a bonanza zone at Bundulipu or fully
tested the mineralisation in the whole area but
the exploration programme at Totopo West has
proved the role of presumption NEENE
structurecontrolled mineralization and the
positionofboilingleveloftheepithermalsystem
prospect structure model, yet the endresult is
stillfairlyunfavourable.
In prospect scale, Totopo area is still far from
exhaustively explored. A number of alteration
and gold mineralisation occurrences at Totopo
prospectarestillremainunderexploredincluding
Bundulipu, OletanggungaLoba, SolupiteNiwu of
TotopoWestarea.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Theauthorswouldliketothankthemanagement
of P.T. Gorontalo Sejahtera Mining, Avocet
Mining Plc, and JResources Nusantara for the
permission to publish this paper, to Peter A
FlindellandJimSweeneyforthereview.
198
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