Great Boulder Resources Ltd (ASX:GBR) has doubled its landholding in the prolific Meekatharra gold camp in Western Australia through the acquisition of two highly prospective gold projects near its flagship Side Well Gold Project.
The mineral exploration company has signed a heads of agreement for an option to acquire 75% of Castle Minerals’ Polelle and Wanganui gold projects, doubling its footprint to 384 square kilometres.
“We are excited by the potential we see in these two projects. This deal is in line with Great Boulder’s strategy of acquiring quality projects in the right geology,” Great Boulder managing director Andrew Paterson said.
“As one of the first companies in the area to negotiate a new cultural heritage and land access agreement with the Yugunga Nya People, we can confidently expand our project area knowing we have the skills and relationships to explore efficiently and effectively.”
The Polelle and Wanganui projects are located south and southwest of Meekatharra.
About Polelle
The Polelle project is 8 kilometres southwest of Side Well, with several ready-to-drill prospective targets in a similar geological setting.
Castle has been progressively exploring the project since 2020, where work included data review, detailed aeromagnetic and radiometric surveys, geochemical surveys and heritage surveys.
The existing drill database comprises aircore, rotary air blast and shallow reverse circulation (RC) drill holes, all above 100 metres.
About Wanganui
The Wanganui project, meanwhile, lies on the western side of the Mt Magnet-Meekatharra greenstone belt, where several major gold camps such as Bluebird, Nannine and Burnakura are proximal to the project.
The project contains a number of small historical workings exploited during the early 1900s and produced about 1,000 ounces of gold.
Castle has progressed the tenement by flying aeromagnetic and radiometric surveys, geochemical sampling and drilling 39 RC holes, intersecting mineralisation such as 3 metres at 18.66 g/t gold from 62 metres and 8 metres at 4.10 g/t gold from 66 metres.
“Logical” deal
“With Castle’s focus on fast-tracking its Kambale Graphite Project, aligning the Polelle and Wanganui projects with the Side Well Project is the logical way forward,” Castle managing director Stephen Stone said.
“We have closely followed the impressive developments at Side Well and believe that combining these extensive and prospective projects substantially increases the opportunity to establish a critical mass of resources in this very under-explored eastern region of the prolific Meekatharra gold camp.”
Acquisition terms
Great Boulder acquired the option to explore Polelle and Wanganui for $50,000 in the company’s scrip, with a commitment to spend a minimum of $250,000 on exploration.
The company may exercise the 12-month option and acquire a 75% interest in the projects by paying Castle an additional $100,000 in scrip valued at a 30-day average price.
It may also extend the option for another year by paying a second option fee of $100,000 in scrip as well as a commitment to spend $400,000 during the second option period.
Once the option is exercised, Great Boulder and Castle will form a 75:25 joint venture, where if Castle chooses not to contribute, its joint venture interest will dilute annually on a pro-rata basis until it drops to below 10% and automatically converts to a 1% net smelter royalty.
The projects have a pre-existing 1% gross revenue royalty held by Castle.
Coordinated exploration
Initial exploration over the Polelle and Wanganui projects will likely involve field mapping and ground truthing of priority targets as well as the collection of available historical drill chips to expand the multi-element dataset.
Any activity will be coordinated with existing priorities at Side Well, including priority aircore drill programs along the Ironbark corridor.
The company is awaiting the final heritage report from the Yugunga Nya Aboriginal Corporation to confirm findings of surveys completed at Side Well in September and October.
“Once we receive that report, we can commence aircore drilling on new targets within the Ironbark corridor, the first of which is Saltbush,” Paterson said.
“The team are very keen to start testing these new targets with our last program for the year,” he added.
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