Westar Resources Ltd (ASX:WSR) has been busy on the transaction front, picking up an option to acquire the Mindoolah Lithium-Gold Project, adjacent to the Weld Range, 70 kilometres northwest of Cue, WA, while divesting the Gidgee South Project, 60 kilometres north of Sandstone, to Aurumin Ltd (ASX:AUN).
The agreement over the Mindoolah tenure and the divestment of Gidgee South are aligned to Westar’s exploration strategy of accumulating “company-making” assets in areas of known mineralisation.
Exciting acquisition
“The Mindoolah Project is a very exciting acquisition with our initial review identifying multiple mapped outcrops of pegmatites over several kilometres of strike, with no sampling for LCT mineralisation,” Westar managing director Karl Jupp said.
“This will be the immediate focus for initial exploration activities, and in the background, we will refine the potential priority targets for gold exploration.
“Separately, the Aurumin Ltd (ASX:AUN) all-script transaction for Gidgee South will give Westar continued exposure to this asset alongside the potential of Aurumin’s rapidly developing Sandstone Gold Project.”
Significant anomalous gold zones
The Mindoolah Project ranges over 100 square kilometres of tenure within the Murchison Mineral Field.
Significant gold has been produced in the Mindoolah district from both hard-rock – open cut and underground – and eluvial deposits. Historical production sits at 161 kilograms of gold from 7,621 tonnes of ore being treated at an average grade of 21.18 g/t.
There are no production figures from the mid-1980s onwards but the scale of operations is likely to have been significant from the open pits present on site.
The area is regularly prospected, with small-scale alluvial operators still finding the occasional rich gold-bearing reef or gold nuggets.
Recent explorers, including Battle Mountain, Placer Exploration and Podium, identified significant gold anomalous zones through soil geochemistry, but limited follow-up drilling was done.
Westar thinks there is significant exploration potential in these less explored and under cover areas.
Historical exploration has largely targeted gold but a minor base-metal anomalism has also been defined.
Pegmatite-hosted LCT
Westar’s initial due diligence review of the project noted Cougar Metals’ 1:10,000 scale geological mapping recorded multiple outcropping pegmatites throughout the current western tenement area.
The company didn’t sample the pegmatites because it was focused on the gold but these areas will form the immediate focus for Westar to concentrate field reconnaissance, including rock-chip sampling and assaying for the lithium-caesium-tantalite (LCT) potential of the project.
A field team will be mobilised to the site in late November, with rock-chip assays expected early in 2023.
The fine print
The terms of the deal are that WSR will lay down $15,000 cash for a four-month period of exclusivity to complete due diligence, and if it is satisfied, a further $30,000 for a two-year option to purchase 100% of the tenure.
If it decides to purchase, WSR will pay the value of $100,000 in cash or script at 10-day volume-weighted average price (VWAP) to exercise the option for outright purchase.
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