These explorers are looking to revamp gold in the historic Gascoyne
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Gold exploration in Gascoyne heating up
BNZ, SPR and WYX eyeing a slice of the pie
Region also prospective for precious metals like silver
WA's Gascoyne region was dug up by old timers for over a century, with towns built on the dreams of gold prospectors.
And plenty of what glittered turned out to be gold.
Notable mines included the Star of Mangaroon, which was found in 1956 and mined until 1983, producing a total of 7464oz of gold at a whopping 34.8g/t gold.
The story goes that the assayer wrote on the bottom of his report 'If you don't start working this, I'll come up and do it myself.'
In recent years, the region has received a new lease on life, with major discoveries in gold, rare earths, lithium and more. But today we're looking at the goldies who are looking to revive the Gascoyne.
One of these new movers is dual-listed Benz Mining Corp (ASX:BNZ),which back in January acquired Spartan Resources' (ASX:SPR) Glenburgh gold project, mopping up a resource containing 16.3Mt at 1g/t gold for 510,000oz.
With previous gold hits up to 11.6g/t and huge exploration potential over 50kms of strike within over 786km2 of underexplored terrain, BNZ has previously called it a 'transformational acquisition,' comparing the project's geological setting to the multi-million-ounce Tropicana gold discovery.
BNZ kicked off maiden drilling this year reporting new hits of up to 19.9g/t gold and a high-grade wide zone of mineralisation smack bang between the Icon and Apollo deposits – indicating they could be linked.
Now, BNZ has commenced a massive 30,000m program to chase the tail of this potentially continuous, large scale gold system.
And keeping a slice of the pie, SPR is also now the biggest shareholder Benz, holding a 14.9% stake and participating $2m in a recent $13.5m placement to drive drilling at the project. BNZ has shown the opportunities on offer from the gold rich region,
Gascoyne gold back in fashion
BNZ is not the only company hunting for gold in the area. Western Yilgarn (ASX:WYX)has also pivoted to explore for the precious metal, having just secured the Gascoyne project following the acquisition of three exploration licences (E09/2986, E09/2987 and E09/2988) covering a total area of 201km2.
The latest addition to the company's portfolio holds huge exploration upside over the same host rocks as the Glenburgh project, which is just 8.7km down the road.
'We are extremely pleased to secure the Gascoyne Gold Project as it provides excellent potential to delineate gold resources similar to the Benz Mining Corp, Glenburgh mineralised gold system which now expands over 50km in length," WYX non-executive director Pedro Kastellorizos said after picking up the project in early may.
"The company has the same geological lithologies (Dalgaringa Supersuite metamorphic rocks) as the Glenburgh Gold Project located to the north of the current tenements. We have now commenced a geological and geophysics review for the purposes of delineating gold targets to commence ground exploration activities."
The company is confident that – despite the region's strong gold potential being explored in recent decades – there remain areas that are highly underexplored and could present a substantial opportunity to host gold mineralisation.
Geological and geophysics reviews are underway to define gold drill targets.
It's just 300km east of Carnarvon, and delivers both geographical and commodity diversity for WYX. Western Yilgarn's priority focus has been on bauxite, the key feedstock for aluminium. Its Julimar West project north of Perth contains an inferred resource of 168.3Mt at 36.1% Al203 & 14.7% SiO2 (cut-off: ≥25% Al2O3).
Location map showing the Gascoyne gold projects area with nearby gold mineral occurrences and deposits. Source: WYX
Another company on the gold hunt is Dreadnought Resources (ASX:DRE), which holds the Mangaroon project in the Gascoyne, where RC drilling is underway at the Star of Mangaroon prospect.
There, near-surface historical results were surprisingly not included in the November 2024 resource nor the January 2025 scoping study.
The plan is to shore up additional open cuts on the granted mining leases to bolster the already robust scoping study, with the goal of producing more gold, improving mining efficiency and increasing cashflow.
More precious metals than just gold?
While gold is the commodity of choice in the region, don't discount other precious metals like silver. The "poor cousin" of gold has come to life in the past week after breaking a key resistance level of US$35/oz.
Taruga Minerals (ASX:TAR) is one example, having recently applied for three contiguous permits (covering 385km2) in the highly prospective northern Gascoyne province, which contain numerous high grade historical workings for base and precious metals.
The Thowagee tenement is especially interesting, as it features two historic polymetallic mining operations, with the Thowagee mine producing 15.2 tonnes of lead and 5878 grams of silver.
Gold, copper and zinc are also present in the mineral system. Notable historic rock chip results include up to 286g/t silver, 143g/t gold, 59.3% lead and 4.35% copper.
While West Coast Silver's (ASX:WCE) main game is at the Elizabeth Hill silver project in the West Pilbara, a deal that has propelled the junior to its highest share price since early 2024, WCE has a stake in the Gascoyne gold game as well via its JV with Falcon Metals (ASX:FAL) at Errabiddy, where Falcon Metals can earn a 70% stake by spending $2m on exploration.
The project contains 960km2, including over 400km2 solely owned by WCE, with the company also holding 100% of the graphite rights – important given its proximity to Buxton Resources' (ASX:BUX) Graphite Bull project.
At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Buxton Resources, Western Yilgarn, Spartan Resources, Taruga Minerals and West Coast Silver are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.
Originally published as Gold is back in the spotlight in WA's Gascoyne region
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ON THE ASX: * The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished Friday 17.7 points lower, or down 0.21 per cent, to 8,547.4 * The broader All Ordinaries lost 25.4 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 8,770.6 CURRENCY SNAPSHOT: One Australian dollar buys: * 64.76 US cents, from 64.96 US cents on Thursday at 5pm * 92.99 Japanese yen, from 93.39 Japanese yen * 56.10 Euro cents, from 56.39 Euro cents * 47.83 British pence, from 47.89 pence * 107.67 NZ cents, from 107.80 NZ cents Australia's share market has lost much of the week's gains, after Israel's attack on Iran proved a brutal reality check for risk sentiment. The S&P/ASX200 fell 17.7 points, or 0.21 per cent, to 8,547.4, as the broader All Ordinaries gave up 25.4 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 8,770.6. Wednesday's dual-record intraday peak and best-ever close for the top-200 became a distant memory as Israeli air strikes on Iranian military targets and nuclear facilities prompted retaliatory drone attacks. 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"In the worst-case scenario, then potentially we see crude oil spike up towards $US100 (a barrel) and that takes inflation significantly higher," Mr Sycamore said. "That reduces the ability of central banks around the world to ease interest rates, because they're then fighting another re-acceleration in inflation." Energy stocks and utilities both surged more than four per cent, and the defensive consumer discretionary sector was the only other division in the green, up 0.25 per cent. The spike in crude prices was good news for Woodside investors, as the oil and gas giant rallied more than seven per cent to $25.21, the top-200's best performer. Financial stocks, which account for roughly half of the top-200's value, fell 0.4 per cent as three of the big four banks - excepting a flat Westpac - grinded lower. The sector is roughly flat for the week. 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"Not rate cuts, but setting up the idea that things have now become more uncertain and there is now more risk to global growth because of what happened this morning," Mr Sycamore said. ON THE ASX: * The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished Friday 17.7 points lower, or down 0.21 per cent, to 8,547.4 * The broader All Ordinaries lost 25.4 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 8,770.6 CURRENCY SNAPSHOT: One Australian dollar buys: * 64.76 US cents, from 64.96 US cents on Thursday at 5pm * 92.99 Japanese yen, from 93.39 Japanese yen * 56.10 Euro cents, from 56.39 Euro cents * 47.83 British pence, from 47.89 pence * 107.67 NZ cents, from 107.80 NZ cents Australia's share market has lost much of the week's gains, after Israel's attack on Iran proved a brutal reality check for risk sentiment. The S&P/ASX200 fell 17.7 points, or 0.21 per cent, to 8,547.4, as the broader All Ordinaries gave up 25.4 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 8,770.6. Wednesday's dual-record intraday peak and best-ever close for the top-200 became a distant memory as Israeli air strikes on Iranian military targets and nuclear facilities prompted retaliatory drone attacks. The escalating conflict also weighed on markets in Asia, as Hong Kong's Hang Seng index, Japan's Nikkei and South Korea's KOSPI all fell between 0.8 per cent and one per cent. Eight of 11 local sectors lost ground on Friday, while energy and utilities stocks surged after oil prices spiked to four-month highs in the wake of the attacks. Brent Crude futures had since eased, but were trading at $US72.40 a barrel at 5pm. The elevation of global risk came at an inopportune time for the ASX and its financial sector, both of which hit new highs this week and showed signs of being overbought, IG Markets analyst Tony Sycamore said. "You wouldn't want to be going home long on risk (assets) ahead of this weekend, because there's just so much uncertainty out there," he told AAP. Meanwhile, the oil price spike could stoke inflation, just as central banks were easing monetary policy after finally tempering post-pandemic price growth. "In the worst-case scenario, then potentially we see crude oil spike up towards $US100 (a barrel) and that takes inflation significantly higher," Mr Sycamore said. "That reduces the ability of central banks around the world to ease interest rates, because they're then fighting another re-acceleration in inflation." Energy stocks and utilities both surged more than four per cent, and the defensive consumer discretionary sector was the only other division in the green, up 0.25 per cent. The spike in crude prices was good news for Woodside investors, as the oil and gas giant rallied more than seven per cent to $25.21, the top-200's best performer. Financial stocks, which account for roughly half of the top-200's value, fell 0.4 per cent as three of the big four banks - excepting a flat Westpac - grinded lower. The sector is roughly flat for the week. Materials stocks fell 0.2 per cent, as rallying gold miners helped soften a sell-off in large cap miners BHP (-2.6 per cent) and Rio Tinto (-1.1 per cent), tracking with an uplift in gold and continued weakness in iron ore prices. Gold itself rose to its highest level since the beginning of May to trade at $US3,445 ($A5,320) an ounce, spiking to within roughly one per cent of its $US3,500 all-time high. Australia's tech sector took the biggest hit on Friday, down 1.2 per cent as investors fled to safety. The Australian dollar is buying 64.76 US cents, down from 64.96 US cents on Thursday at 5pm. Next week, four major central banks will set their policy rates, and while investors expect no changes, they will be looking for any pivots towards dovish rhetoric in light of escalating conflict in the Middle East. "Not rate cuts, but setting up the idea that things have now become more uncertain and there is now more risk to global growth because of what happened this morning," Mr Sycamore said. ON THE ASX: * The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished Friday 17.7 points lower, or down 0.21 per cent, to 8,547.4 * The broader All Ordinaries lost 25.4 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 8,770.6 CURRENCY SNAPSHOT: One Australian dollar buys: * 64.76 US cents, from 64.96 US cents on Thursday at 5pm * 92.99 Japanese yen, from 93.39 Japanese yen * 56.10 Euro cents, from 56.39 Euro cents * 47.83 British pence, from 47.89 pence * 107.67 NZ cents, from 107.80 NZ cents Australia's share market has lost much of the week's gains, after Israel's attack on Iran proved a brutal reality check for risk sentiment. The S&P/ASX200 fell 17.7 points, or 0.21 per cent, to 8,547.4, as the broader All Ordinaries gave up 25.4 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 8,770.6. Wednesday's dual-record intraday peak and best-ever close for the top-200 became a distant memory as Israeli air strikes on Iranian military targets and nuclear facilities prompted retaliatory drone attacks. The escalating conflict also weighed on markets in Asia, as Hong Kong's Hang Seng index, Japan's Nikkei and South Korea's KOSPI all fell between 0.8 per cent and one per cent. Eight of 11 local sectors lost ground on Friday, while energy and utilities stocks surged after oil prices spiked to four-month highs in the wake of the attacks. Brent Crude futures had since eased, but were trading at $US72.40 a barrel at 5pm. The elevation of global risk came at an inopportune time for the ASX and its financial sector, both of which hit new highs this week and showed signs of being overbought, IG Markets analyst Tony Sycamore said. "You wouldn't want to be going home long on risk (assets) ahead of this weekend, because there's just so much uncertainty out there," he told AAP. Meanwhile, the oil price spike could stoke inflation, just as central banks were easing monetary policy after finally tempering post-pandemic price growth. "In the worst-case scenario, then potentially we see crude oil spike up towards $US100 (a barrel) and that takes inflation significantly higher," Mr Sycamore said. "That reduces the ability of central banks around the world to ease interest rates, because they're then fighting another re-acceleration in inflation." Energy stocks and utilities both surged more than four per cent, and the defensive consumer discretionary sector was the only other division in the green, up 0.25 per cent. The spike in crude prices was good news for Woodside investors, as the oil and gas giant rallied more than seven per cent to $25.21, the top-200's best performer. Financial stocks, which account for roughly half of the top-200's value, fell 0.4 per cent as three of the big four banks - excepting a flat Westpac - grinded lower. The sector is roughly flat for the week. Materials stocks fell 0.2 per cent, as rallying gold miners helped soften a sell-off in large cap miners BHP (-2.6 per cent) and Rio Tinto (-1.1 per cent), tracking with an uplift in gold and continued weakness in iron ore prices. Gold itself rose to its highest level since the beginning of May to trade at $US3,445 ($A5,320) an ounce, spiking to within roughly one per cent of its $US3,500 all-time high. Australia's tech sector took the biggest hit on Friday, down 1.2 per cent as investors fled to safety. The Australian dollar is buying 64.76 US cents, down from 64.96 US cents on Thursday at 5pm. Next week, four major central banks will set their policy rates, and while investors expect no changes, they will be looking for any pivots towards dovish rhetoric in light of escalating conflict in the Middle East. "Not rate cuts, but setting up the idea that things have now become more uncertain and there is now more risk to global growth because of what happened this morning," Mr Sycamore said. ON THE ASX: * The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished Friday 17.7 points lower, or down 0.21 per cent, to 8,547.4 * The broader All Ordinaries lost 25.4 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 8,770.6 CURRENCY SNAPSHOT: One Australian dollar buys: * 64.76 US cents, from 64.96 US cents on Thursday at 5pm * 92.99 Japanese yen, from 93.39 Japanese yen * 56.10 Euro cents, from 56.39 Euro cents * 47.83 British pence, from 47.89 pence * 107.67 NZ cents, from 107.80 NZ cents
