It’s not day by day that an early stage gold explorer with a market worth round $12 million attracts the eye of a London mining analysis home, however Hallgarten & Co’s principal Christopher Ecclestone earlier this yr accorded OzAurum Sources (ASX:OZM) a ‘lengthy’ ranking. He had noticed an up-and-coming explorer.
This West Australian junior, though listed solely in February 2021, has a lot of issues going for it in response to Ecclestone. Certainly one of them is the truth that OzAurum has two tasks mendacity on confirmed gold-bearing buildings (the Laverton Tectonic Zone and the Keith-Kilkenny Development); one other is the proximity (2km) to the three.2Moz Carosue Dam mine owned by Northern Star Sources (ASX:NST); and — a robust third — the many years of labor by Managing Director Andrew Pumphrey devoted to those tasks.
Ecclestone says that Mr Pumphrey’s “dogged pursuit” of the Mulgabbie and Patricia prospects, positioned 130km northeast of Kalgoorlie, has lastly borne fruit. “It’s certainly shocking that territory so close to to Carosue Dam ought to have been so cursorily ignored for therefore lengthy,” he added.
Nicely, they weren’t ignored by Mr Pumphrey, though within the case of Mulgabbie North there had been restricted exploration resulting from transported cowl.
Greater than 30 years in the past he and his spouse, petrologist Dr Alicia Verbeeten, pegged floor northeast of Kalgoorlie. Over these 30 years, Pumphrey saved these tenements at Mulgabbie in good standing and superior them by finishing up drilling and exploration so it was there, prepared for the suitable time. To that they added Patricia, named after the daughter of its 1930 explorer Alf Thompson
Mulgabbie and Patricia had been the property with which OzAurum Sources listed on the Australian Securities Alternate after elevating $12 million. Within the first 14 months, the corporate accomplished a formidable 34,000m of reverse circulation and 48,000m of aircore drilling.
Mulgabbie consists of 4 distinct tasks: Mulgabbie North, the place exploration work is now underneath means, Mulgabbie Resort linked with the historic mine and Mulgabbie Perseverance and Mulgabbie Hill, Golden Goose and Mulgabbie Greenfields. The Mulgabbie Resort prospect produced between 1898 and 1940 with an output of 7706oz at a median grade of 1057grams per tonne gold, with recorded gold and silver tellurides.
Mulgabbie was in its day a thriving mining centre with greater than 40 shafts being sunk (and busy sufficient to assist its personal pub).
Lower than a month after itemizing on the ASX, OzAurum was capable of publish the primary outcomes from Mulgabbie North. The maiden drilling marketing campaign returned high-grade gold mineralisation, open alongside strike and at depth. Outcomes from the primary 9 holes confirmed that each one intersected vital gold mineralisation, and assays included 4m at 10.26gpt, 8m at 3.41gpt and 7m at 2.90gpt.
Three months after itemizing OzAurum’s aircore drilling turned up some spectacular hits at Mulgabbie North, together with 1m at 162gpt, 1m at 31.0gpt and 1mn at 15gpt, with composite samples additionally trying spectacular. Then, by late June, 130 holes had been accomplished and, once more, the excellent news saved coming from Mulgabbie North — 4m composite samples coming in at 5gpt, 4gpt and 2gpt.
And at this time the drilling continues apace, helped by the truth that the corporate operates its diamond drill rig (owned by Andrew Pumphrey and supplied without charge to OzAurum) so would not have to affix the contractor queues. “Placing cash within the floor is our coverage,” says Mr Pumphrey, the corporate lately elevating an additional $2 million to maintain the drilling momentum. “We did extra drilling in our first yr after itemizing than most IPOs do.” And it reveals.
Mulgabbie North continues to develop, with RC and AC drilling testing a number of targets over 8km of strike. Then in June got here success on the virgin gold discovery at Mulgabbie North — the Dmag Zone — the place diamond drilling intercepted 55m at 1.0gpt (from 47 downhole), together with 4m at 4.98gpt and, inside that interval, 1m at 15gpt.
As soon as supergene gold was recognized on the Dmag Zone, by OzAurum’s AC drilling, the corporate adopted up with three strains of RC drilling, all strains producing what Mr Pumphrey describes as vital outcomes. There was little drilling within the Demag zone; the final recorded effort was a small rotary air blast program of 10 holes by the previous Gutnick Sources over the precise Demag Zone and different follow-up RC drilling within the adjoining space at Mulgabbie (4 holes for 1357m) which “returned broad intervals of low to average grade gold” — and that was it.
The Mulgabbie mission space is positioned simply 2km from the Northern Star Sources’ Carosue Dam mine which has thus far produced 1.5Moz of gold. Mr Pumphrey notes that Carosue Dam is the western aspect of the Carosue Basin and Mulgabbie North is on the jap aspect.
OzAurum is engaged on the belief that it’s sitting on related buildings that host Carosue Dam. The host rocks are intermediate-felsic volcaniclastic models — similar to Northern Star’s Carosue Dam in addition to the Karari and Whirling Dervish gold mines. “So there needs to be a little bit of gold on our aspect, too,” he jokes.
Just lately accomplished close-spaced drone magnetometer surveys coupled with a gravity survey, in addition to bottom-of-hole multi-element aircore geochemistry, at Mulgabbie North has supplied OzAurum with the baseline information to know the Mulgabbie North mission, along with which there have additional targets generated for future RC drilling.
Mr Pumphrey provides that OzAurum has loads extra targets but to check.
Hallgarten’s Ecclestone takes the identical view of the geology. “The Mulgabbie and Patricia tasks happen in greenstones on reverse sides of the medium scale ovate Galvalley granite pluton,” he wrote in his notice on OzAurum. “Each mission areas happen in craton-scale tectonic zones which are characterised by prolific gold manufacturing.”
Patricia, 40km north of Mulgabbie, was found in 1930 and mined underground till 1937 with a median grade of 41gpt. Patricia had not been drilled for greater than 30 years, however RC drill testing by OzAurum signifies high-grade gold mineralisation and one which remains to be open at depth. Patricia was traditionally mined as an open pit to a depth of 25m.
The Laverton Tectonic Zone which on which Patricia lies additionally hosts essential deposits such a Butcher Nicely, Wallaby and Dawn Dam.
Mr Pumphrey is just not fazed by durations of weak point within the gold worth. “It is a unbelievable commodity to be in,” he says, including that with the current sharp falls the numbers nonetheless work very nicely in Australian {dollars}. And he sees gold being nicely positioned given the Ukraine battle and different uncertainties all over the world, a US financial system in bother and now inflation raging. “Gold is traditionally a protected haven”.
OZM Price at posting:
12.5¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
(20min delay)