Latest news with #WaratahMinerals
The Australian
04-08-2025
- Business
- The Australian
WTM on trail of large gold corridor
Special Report: Waratah Minerals shot up more than 40% in early trading after drilling at Spur project in the East Lachlan region of NSW reinforced the potential of the Spur gold corridor to host a large-scale, high-grade epithermal gold system. WTM says multiple high-grade gold zones extend Spur Gold Corridor Project shaping up to host sizeable epithermal system in NSW Company undertaking extensional RC and diamond drilling The latest assays returned: 208.7m at 1.17 g/t gold from 514m including 89m at 1.96 g/t from 614m and including 38m at 3.61 g/t from 665m (drill hole SPRCD062 at Consols prospect); 27m at 1.03 g/t Au from 163m (SPRC078 at Essex Zone); 28m at 0.88 g/t Au from 160m (SPRC077 at Essex Zone); and 21m at 0.73 g/t Au from 133m (SPRC076 at Thistle Zone). Waratah Minerals (ASX:WTM) also found visible gold at Consols, which it says represents a major extension of the Spur Gold Corridor. A broad spaced drill program is planned for Consols to determine the extent of the mineralised system from surface to approximately 450m depth. Scale and significance becoming clear The company is confident the drilling demonstrates the potential scale, significance and growth upside of the rapidly emerging Spur Gold Corridor. 'Drill hole SPRCD062 represents a pivotal drill hole for Waratah at our Spur project,' MD Peter Duerden said. 'We have always believed that the epithermal gold mineralisation of the Spur Gold Corridor crossed the Essex Fault and should extend to the northeast, despite historical drilling having been unable to locate extensions. 'The decision by the exploration team to extend SPRCD062 twice based on encouraging geological indicators has resulted in the identification of a new mineralised zone including visible gold with high grades at Consols which represents a major extension of the Spur Gold Corridor and the best intercept at the project to date. 'With the ongoing exploration success and a high-level team in place the company is planning to accelerate activity at the project.' Extensional RC and diamond drilling is now underway at the Spur Project to define epithermal gold across the >1.5km Spur Gold Corridor whilst simultaneously testing for porphyry mineralisation in the Breccia West area. This article was developed in collaboration with Waratah Minerals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing. This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
News.com.au
04-08-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Resources Top 5: Waratah delivers more gifts from heart of premier porphyry district
New results demonstrate the potential scale, significance and growth upside of the Spur Gold Corridor Scale of Cross Fault gold discovery at OZM's Mulgabbie North project continues to grow LKY intends to expand its antimony drilling plan at the Mojave project in California Your standout small cap resources stocks for Monday, August 4, 2025 Waratah Minerals (ASX:WTM) With its Spur project lying in the East Lachlan part of Australia's premier gold-copper porphyry district, Waratah Minerals continues to deliver gifts for investors. The project is considered highly prospective for epithermal-porphyry gold and copper, and also lies just 5km west of the globally significant Cadia Valley operations of Newmont with its gold bounty of more than 50Moz and copper in excess of 9.5Mt. New drilling results have enhanced the company's confidence in the project's potential to host a large-scale, high-grade gold system and investors share the enthusiasm, driving shares 49.16% higher to a 2025 high of 44c. The company is confident the results demonstrate the potential scale, significance and growth upside of the rapidly emerging Spur Gold Corridor. The latest assays returned: 208.7m at 1.17 g/t gold from 514m including 89m at 1.96 g/t from 614m and including 38m at 3.61 g/t from 665m in hole SPRCD062; 27m at 1.03 g/t Au from 163m; 28m at 0.88 g/t Au from 160m; and 21m at 0.73 g/t Au from 133m. Waratah Minerals also found visible gold at Consols prospect, which it says represents a major extension of the Spur Gold Corridor. A broad spaced drill program is planned for Consols to determine the extent of the mineralised system from surface to approximately 450m depth. 'Drill hole SPRCD062 represents a pivotal drill hole for Waratah at our Spur project,' MD Peter Duerden said. 'We have always believed that the epithermal gold mineralisation of the Spur Gold Corridor crossed the Essex Fault and should extend to the northeast, despite historical drilling having been unable to locate extensions. 'The decision by the exploration team to extend SPRCD062 twice based on encouraging geological indicators has resulted in the identification of a new mineralised zone including visible gold with high grades at Consols which represents a major extension of the Spur Gold Corridor and the best intercept at the project to date. 'With the ongoing exploration success and a high-level team in place the company is planning to accelerate activity at the project.' Extensional RC and diamond drilling is now underway at Spur to define epithermal gold across the >1.5km Spur Gold Corridor whilst simultaneously testing for porphyry mineralisation in the Breccia West area. OzAurum Resources (ASX:OZM) The scale of the Cross Fault discovery at OzAurum Resources (ASX:OZM) Mulgabbie North gold project in WA continues to grow with ongoing RC drilling confirming multiple zones in fresh rock and shares have increased 25% to a daily top of 8c. Latest results of up to 10m at 2.18g/t Au from 85m, including 2m at 6.09g/t from 85m and 2m at 3.12g/t from 93m have been returned from a 400m strike. Around 17 holes for 1858m were carried out at the Cross Fault zone and other results were 21m at 1.22g/t Au from 33m, including 1m at 5.45g/t from 43m and 1m at 11.41g/t from 53m. An additional hole at Golden Goose intersected 10m at 0.18 g/t Au from 15m and even though significant mineralisation wasn't intersected at depth, OzAurum (ASX:OZM) believes the target is prospective for further testing. OZM CEO and managing director Andrew Pumphrey said the RC drilling results from the Cross Fault discovery were highly encouraging, confirming the presence of significant high-grade gold mineralisation in fresh rock across a growing strike length. 'Importantly, the mineralisation style we're seeing – brittle sandstone-hosted with strong sulphide and quartz veining – is analogous to major deposits at Carosue Dam just 2km away,' he said. 'With mineralisation open at depth and along strike, we're now planning follow-up drilling aimed at delivering a maiden resource at Cross Fault. 'In parallel, we're excited to progress drilling at Heysen's Find, where high-grade rock chip samples have pointed to another promising gold target within our tenement.' Continuing a run of positive news is Locksley Resources which intends to expand its antimony drilling plan at the Desert Antimony prospect of its Mojave antimony and rare earth project in California. The newsflow has resulted in a run of share price increases since early May to a four-year-high of 19.5c. This was a lift of 39.3% on the previous close with more than 68m shares exchanged. LKY plans to test three NNE to SSW trending quartz-carbonate-stibnite vein positions and one east-west trending structure within a broader target zone. 'With the benefit of a strengthened balance sheet following our oversubscribed capital raise, we are accelerating exploration to test a larger mineralised footprint at the Desert Antimony prospect,' Locksley technical director Julian Woodcock said. 'This is in addition to the already approved drilling program at the El Campo rare earths prospect. 'With our claims located only 1.4km from MP Materials' Mountain Pass Mine, we are placed at the centre of the US drive to secure domestic supply chains for antimony and rare earths.' Tambourah Metals (ASX:TMB) Initial aircore drilling at the Beatty Park South project 160km north of Meekatharra in WA has returned up to 126g/t gold and investors in Tambourah Metals reacted positively, sending shares as much as 73.1% higher to 4.5c with more than 100m changing hands. Results are: 6m at 25.8g/t Au from 30m, including 1m at 126g/t; 2m at 6.6g/t from 24m; 1m at 3.63g/t from 36m; 1m at 7.02g/t from 41m; and 4m at 15.95g/t from 16m. The aircore holes were drilled to a maximum depth of 65m for a total 1069m. Five drill traverses were completed on 30m spacings with a collar spacing of 20m on the traverse. Planning is underway to significantly expand Tambourah's aircore drilling activity at the project to further define the extent of the near-surface gold mineralisation. Leeuwin Metals (ASX:LM1) After demonstrating strong growth potential at its Marda gold project in WA with high-grade results, Leeuwin Metals has increased 66.7% to 16.5c. The drill results of up to 5m at 5.0g/t Au from 229m to end-of-hole, including 1m at 10.0g/t from 231m; 23m at 1.29g/t Au from 207m, including 10m at 2.3g/t from 207m; 16m at 0.78g/t Au from 244m; and 9m at 1.15g/t Au from 193m were returned from Python prospect at Marda Central. A maiden mineral resource is targeted this quarter and drilling will start within weeks to support further resource definition with new targets identified from recent field mapping. Drill planning at Evanston is underway, with drilling expected to start in mid-August, targeting shallow, high-grade mineralisation.
News.com.au
13-07-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
The treasure the big boys left behind in NSW's Lachlan Fold Belt
Alkane's Boda find put the Lachlan Fold Belt back on the map in 2019. Today, with better geological models and modern exploration, smart capital is flowing into the region The Macquarie Arc, east of the Lachlan Fold Belt, is Australia's leading porphyry belt and home to major mines It is also home to a new generation of ASX juniors including Magmatic Resources and Waratah Minerals, with many others close by looking for the next major gold-copper discovery Rising copper prices, gold's stellar run and some of the world's most promising geology have created the perfect storm for investors willing to bet on Aussie juniors, proving that sometimes the best opportunities are the ones hiding in your own backyard. Alkane Resources' (ASX:ALK) Boda discovery put NSW's Lachlan Fold Belt on the map a few years ago before the region seemingly slipped back into the shadows. But smart money is returning to the fold, with new technology and geological understanding triggering a fresh wave of companies keen on chasing the region's staggering gold and copper bounty. More than 110Moz of gold discoveries have been made in the area to-date in and around the Central Lachlan and Cobar mineralised districts. To the east of the Lachlan Fold Belt is the Macquarie Arc, which has been described as Australia's foremost porphyry belt, home to powerhouse mines like Evolution Mining's (ASX:EVN) Northparkes and Cowal mines, and Newmont Corporation's (ASX:NEM) Cadia-Ridgeway (the second largest gold mine in Australia after its Boddington operation in WA's South West). The western reaches of the Lachlan Fold Belt host the Cobar Superbasin, where MAC Copper (ASX:MAC) acquired Australia's highest-grade copper mine, the CSA mine, for US$1.1 billion from Glencore and is now selling it for a similar price to South Africa's Harmony Gold. Consolidation and M&A Magmatic Resources (ASX:MAG) acquired its Lachlan Belt portfolio in 2014 from Gold Fields at a time of peak consolidation in the area, when major mining companies were realigning their portfolios in a weak gold price environment. Notable transactions included Rio Tinto's 2013 sale of its 80% stake in the Northparkes copper-gold mine (Sumitomo owned and continue to own 20%) to China Molybdenum for US$820m and Barrick Gold's 2015 divestment of the Cowal gold mine to Evolution Mining for US$550m. Cowal's resource base stood at 3.4Moz when Evolution acquired it. Today that figure has nearly tripled to 9Moz. By 2023, Newmont had acquired Newcrest Mining in a US$16.8 billion deal, drawn largely by the world-class Cadia Valley mine, which contains 17Moz of gold and 3.6Mt of copper in ore reserves. Later that year, Evolution Mining purchased China Molybdenum's 80% interest in the Northparkes copper-gold mine for US$475m. In an interview with Stockhead, MAG managing director David Richardson said Gold Fields had been actively exploring the region in search of tier-1 discoveries, assembling a portfolio of projects that shared key geological features with major nearby mines. As most major players began stepping back from greenfields exploration to concentrate on near-mine development, Barrick offloaded several gold assets in Western Australia to Gold Fields, an opportunity that ultimately enabled Magmatic to secure their Lachlan Fold Belt projects. 'We believed there would be a gold and copper recovery, and if you wanted to find a tier-1 gold-copper project, the East Lachlan offered the greatest potential,' Richardson said. 'Importantly, the Cadia, Northparkes and Cowal mines are all on the region's two volcanic belts, and Gold Fields' portfolio was on these volcanic belts and in close proximity to these mines. 'Gold Fields had spent ~A$14m on exploration including detailed geophysics, geochemical and target generation drilling so we were able to acquire advanced exploration projects with a list of ranked targets,' he added. Peaks and troughs While Magmatic were lucky enough to inherit Gold Fields' exploration office in Orange, Richardson said having a portfolio of tier-1 projects (comprising the Wellington North, Parkes, Myall and Moorefield assets) comes with its challenges as a junior explorer. 'The last 10 years has been difficult for junior explorers to raise money and gain shareholder traction, plus porphyry copper-gold deposits are known for their large size and low grade, making them harder to develop,' he said. 'We knew we had to focus on the two smaller projects, while advancing our larger projects to a stage they would be attractive to majors.' At IPO in May 2017, the company ventured its Parkes project with JOGMEC, the Japanese governments resources agency, which Richardson said largely kept it going during the lean years of 2017-2020. 'As a small company we were nimble and able to pivot our focus on our Wellington North project post Alkane's Boda discovery, and our exploration there has developed multiple exciting prospects,' he added. The company decided to demerge its subsidiary Australian Gold and Copper (ASX:AGC), which contained the Moorefield asset, and acquired two complementary projects before listing AGC on the ASX. It then undertook a major drilling campaign at the Myall project and defined a resource of 293,000t of copper, 237,000oz of gold and 2.8Moz of silver, equating to 354,000t of copper metal equivalent. 'We believed we needed a partner to further develop Myall, so in March 2024 after an expression of interest process we successfully attracted Fortescue subsidiary FMG Resources and agreed a farm-in/joint venture agreement,' Richardson said. 'In the past 12 months we have put over $2m into the ground advancing the project with Magmatic as operator. 'Our approach has been to try and advance all of our projects at the same time, recognising which projects we go alone on and which projects need a partner. 'At all times being nimble enough to put focus on a project given exploration success or other opportunities such as the recovery in the copper price.' That conviction has certainly paid off, with historically strong gold, silver and copper prices all boding well for Myall's future development. Other ASX explorers in the hood Waratah Minerals (ASX:WTM) is another explorer in the area, focusing its exploration work along the margins of a major intrusive complex which hadn't been focused on at the Spur project, despite it being an important setting of major deposits in the Lachlan Fold Belt. Spur sits within 5km of Newmont's Cadia Valley gold and copper operations and, according to Waratah, is a perfect example of both epithermal and porphyry styles of mineralisation. 'Often in districts around the Macquarie Arc you'll see one or the other dominating, here we see evidence for both, and the hypothesis is that there is a connection genetically and spatially between the two styles of mineralisation,' Waratah MD Peter Duerden previously told Stockhead. A three-rig drilling campaign, backed by an $8.4m capital raise in May, is currently underway focusing on the Spur gold corridor where epithermal gold mineralisation has been mapped 1km along strike. Additional drilling will also continue to investigate the Breccia West prospect, where the nature of mineralisation host rock and assay intercepts show strong similarities to the nearby Ridgeway deposit. Legacy Minerals Holdings (ASX:LGM) has started drilling at the Glenlogan JV project with S2 Resources (ASX:S2R) in its search for Cadia-style porphyry mineralisation. Glenlogan is less than 55km from the Newmont's Cadia (~50Moz gold, 10Mt copper) and was last explored by Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) in 1996. S2 is now drilling a 600-800m diamond hole to test several coincident geophysical anomalies identified in recent surveys consistent with porphyry style mineralisation. Assays will likely take a further three to four weeks after the completion of the hole. And Koonenberry Gold (ASX:KNB) owns about 1580km2 of granted exploration licences in the region, making it one of the most significant landholders in the belt. At its Prince of Wales project, the company has uncovered a large +2.5km-long gold in soil anomaly at the Back Station Creek prospect. Averaging more than six parts per billion gold with a peak value of 112ppb, the most recent rock chips from the project have outlined large-scale epithermal or porphyry gold and copper targets that have never been drilled. An ~800m by 300m gold-in-soil anomaly above 6ppb with peak gold grades of 349ppb has also been picked up at Sybil, meaning Koonenberry has now defined two separate trends within the landholding. With a cash balance of $10.35m, the company is focused on refining drill targets across multiple projects, including the Junee and Fairholme JVs where the world's biggest gold miner – Newmont – is spending millions on exploration. And the latest mover in the State's Macquarie Arc is 2025 IPO LinQ Minerals (ASX:LNQ), which raised $10m to out towards drilling at the 3.7Moz gold and 1.2Mt copper Gilmore project, home to Gidjinbung, a major epithermal gold deposit near Temora last mined in 1996 when gold prices were ~$460/oz and undrilled since 2001. LinQ appointed drill contractor Drillit to conduct the first stage of drilling focused initially on Gidginbung and the Dam porphyry deposits (combined 1.2Moz gold, 120,000t copper).
Herald Sun
18-06-2025
- Business
- Herald Sun
Waratah Minerals confirms expansion potential at Spur Gold Corridor
Don't miss out on the headlines from Stockhead. Followed categories will be added to My News. Special Report: An expanded three-rig campaign at Waratah Minerals' Spur project has confirmed extensions to known gold mineralisation at the Spur Gold Corridor, as drilling continues to investigate a potential link with a porphyry gold-copper system. Numerous intercepts returned from expansion drilling at the Spur gold-copper project in NSW Significant new extensions to gold mineralisation have been identified as work continues to grow the scale of the Spur Gold Corridor Follow-up drilling is planned with an additional 60 holes planned Numerous intercepts from expansion drilling were returned within the >1km Spur Gold Corridor such as 77m at 1.31g/t gold from 310m, including 8m at 3.19g/t gold from 327m as well as 56m at 1.63g/t gold from 252m. New extensions to gold mineralisation, northeast of the Essex Fault, were identified with drilling linking the Spur and Consols Zones, returning 11m at 1.49g/t gold from 90m, including 1m at 14.45g/t gold from 98m. Meanwhile, the program at Breccia West intercepted a broad zone of porphyry-related mineralisation and alteration, with drillhole BZD002 hitting 33m at 0.18% copper equivalent and 61ppm molybdenum from 546m within 419m at 45ppm molybdenum from 34m. Background on Spur Ongoing work is rapidly growing the scale of the Spur Gold Corridor with 76 drill holes totalling 18,852m completed since mid-2024. The Spur Gold Corridor now contains 45 >50-gram x metre and 7 >100-gram x metre gold intersections, establishing it as one of the premier emerging gold discoveries in the region. So far exploration at Spur, which sits within NSW's Macquarie Arc in the Lachlan Fold Belt, has outlined a broad zone of epithermal stringer mineralisation, accompanied by porphyry-style alteration – characteristics consistent with the upper levels of a larger porphyry system. Waratah Minerals (ASX:WTM) has been drilling on the edge of the major Cargo Intrusive complex, and focusing on the shoulders of that structure, a mere 5km west from Newmont's (ASX:NEM) Cadia Valley gold and copper operations. More exploration coming WTM managing director Peter Duerden said the company is excited to see step-out drilling along strike and at depth continuing to expand the Spur Gold Corridor. 'In conjunction with the gold drilling program at the Spur Gold Corridor a second drill hole was completed at the Breccia West porphyry copper-gold target,' he said. 'Drill hole BZD002 intersected a broad zone of porphyry related mineralisation and alteration with anomalous pathfinder elements that typically occur at the tops or edges of porphyry systems indicating that the first two diamond holes into Breccia West occur on the margins of a preserved system. 'The higher-grade mineralisation would be expected within the centre of the system rather than the edges and work is being conducted to vector into this higher-grade centre.' Follow up drilling continues to extend the >1km Spur Gold Corridor with an additional 60 holes planned. This article was developed in collaboration with Waratah Minerals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing. This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions. Originally published as Waratah Minerals confirms expansion potential at Spur Gold Corridor
Herald Sun
27-05-2025
- Business
- Herald Sun
Explorers Pod: Waratah Minerals
Don't miss out on the headlines from Stockhead. Followed categories will be added to My News. Stockhead's 'Garimpeiro' columnist Barry FitzGerald is back in the studio for another instalment of The Explorers Podcast. In this edition, Barry looks to NSW's Lachlan Ford Belt, where Waratah Minerals (ASX:WTM) is busy on the ground at its wholly owned Spur gold-copper project. Just recently, the company mobilised a third rig to the project in a bid to rapidly grow resources and fast-track step-out drilling. Listen to find out more. This podcast was developed in collaboration with Waratah Minerals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing. The interviews and discussions in this podcast are opinions only and not financial or investment advice. Listeners should obtain independent advice based on their own circumstances before making any financial decisions. Originally published as Explorers Podcast: Drills turning as Waratah stays busy in NSW's Lachlan Fold Belt
