The Conversation (0)
Spartan Resources
Overview
Australia is the second largest producer of gold worldwide, according to the US Geological Survey, and Western Australia (WA) is the dominant player in the nation’s gold market accounting for nearly 70 percent of the total production. Gold mining is the third-largest commodity sector by value in WA, producing nearly 6.9 Moz (or 214 tonnes) in 2022 valued at A$17.8 billion. Eleven of the world’s biggest gold mines are in WA, where Spartan Resources is advancing its flagship Dalgaranga Gold Property.
Formerly known as Gascoyne Resources, Spartan Resources (ASX:SPR) is engaged in the exploration, evaluation and development of gold projects. The company is currently undergoing a pivotal transformation, underpinned by the exceptional high-grade Never Never gold discovery in 2022, less than 1 kilometre from its less-than-5-year-old, existing 2.5-Mtpa carbon-in-leach processing facility in care and maintenance, and the lower grade open pits at Dalgaranga.
Drilling at Never Never has led to the discovery of 721 koz at an average grade of 5.85 g/t gold. Driven by the potential for further resource upgrade, Spartan secured $50 million in funding in February 2023 to support its aggressive exploration program at Never Never. This program, which is intended to last 18 months, is targeting: more than 300 koz reserve at a grade exceeding 4.0 g/t gold; more than 600 koz resource at a grade exceeding 5.0 g/t gold; and the development of a 5-year mine plan capable of generating 130 to 150 koz of gold per annum.
The Dalgaranga property is in proximity to multiple gold-producing projects including Ramelius Resources’ Mt Magnet Project, Musgrave Cue Project, and Westgold Resources’ Tuckabianna gold mill. Historically, Mt Magnet has produced over 6 million ounces since discovery in 1891, which increases confidence in the resource potential of Dalgaranga.
In parallel with the company’s planned exploration program at Never Never, Spartan is progressing with permitting and evaluation of its 244-koz Yalgoo Gold Project, which is expected to provide an important source of ore feed to supplement the high-grade ore from Never Never. In addition, the company owns the 537-koz Glenburgh and Mt Egerton Gold Project in the Gascoyne region, which has the potential to become a second production hub for Spartan Resources.
Company Highlights
- Spartan Resources Limited is an Australia-based company engaged in the exploration, evaluation and development of gold projects. The company was formerly known as Gascoyne Resources but changed its name to Spartan Resources Limited (Spartan) in August 2023 after a series of incredible discovery drill holes and exploration success that justified the transformation of the business.
- Spartan is currently focused on the newly discovered high-grade Never Never gold deposit, part of its 100-percent-owned Dalgaranga Gold Project (Dalgaranga) in Western Australia. The Never Never discovery was made in mid-2022 and is less than 1 kilometre from the existing 2.5-Mtpa carbon-in-leach processing facility and the main open pit at Dalgaranga. The Dalgaranga Process Plant is less than five years old and is well suited to the new discovery and existing lower grade ore deposits.
- Spartan’s Dalgaranga gold project is located 475 kilometres northeast of Perth and approximately 65 kilometres west of the 6-Moz high-grade Mt Magnet gold camp in the Murchison Region of Western Australia.
- In November 2022, the company, then Gascoyne, suspended mining and milling operations of the former focus of its operations, the lower grade circa 0.8-1.0g/t Gilbey’s open pit to focus on the recently discovered high-grade Never Never gold deposit.
- The strategy has thus far paid off extremely well with drilling, defining a growing high-grade mineral resource of 3.8 Mt @ 5.85 g/t gold for 721,200 oz. The Never Never gold resource, when added to the existing lower-grade Dalgaranga Gold project mineral resources brings the total resource to 16.7 Mt at 2.2 g/t gold for 1.18 Moz. Keep in mind the discovery and establishment of the high-grade Never Never deposit has more than doubled the grade of the previous Mineral Resource Estimate on which the infrastructure was built.
- Spartan also has three other gold projects, the Yalgoo Gold Project, which is 110 kilometres west of, and two others roughly 500 kilometres further north of Dalgaranga, the Glenburgh and Egerton Gold Projects. With all resources combined, the global mineral resource estimate for Spartan currently stands at 38.51 Mt at 1.6 g/t gold for 1.96 Moz of contained gold.
- Looking to the immediate future, the potential for further growth within the Spartan portfolio is extensive. The current 32,000-metre drilling program at Dalgaranga is already underway with the aim to extend the existing Never Never resource at depth, as well as identify new look-alike targets along strike to the north and south, such as the newly identified higher-grade Four Pillars and West Winds shoots, and follow up of the Patient Wolf high-grade target 1.6 kilometres north of the Never Never discovery.
- The next resource update will summarise the efforts of the current drill campaign across multiple targets and is scheduled very shortly in Q4 2023.
- Spartan raised $50 million in February 2023 to underpin an 18-month exploration and strategic plan (the “365” strategy) aiming to develop a five-year mine plan with the goal of generating 130 to 150 koz of gold per annum. This strategy appears well on track with the resource target, the “600” already achieved with work underway on the “300” reserves and establishing the minimum “5-yr” mine life currently.
- An additional $25 million was raised in November 2023 to accelerate Spartan’s high-grade growth strategy and support an expanded exploration campaign at Dalgaranga in 2024.
- Also in February 2023, the company established an exploration target of 4 to 5 Mt @ 4.6-6.2 g/t for 600 koz to 1 Moz gold at the Never Never Gold Deposit.
- With a current resource of 3.8 Mt @ 5.85 g/t for 721 koz gold and an imminent resource update due, Spartan has delivered on what it said, and looks solid to continue to do so.
Get access to more exclusive Gold Investing Stock profiles here
Focused on Growing High-grade Gold Ounces in front of established infrastructure in Prolific Western Australia
High-Grade Gold Confirmed at Bronzewing South
- Partial results received from the diamond tail of drill-hole BWSRC081 with the visible gold zone returning 15.5g/t Au over 0.48m from 416.5m. This high- grade zone is reported within a broader intercept of:
- 8.95m at 1.32g/t Au from 414m, including:
- 0.48m at 15.5g/t Au from 416.5m; and
- 0.55m at 3.52g/t Au from 422.4m.
- 8.95m at 1.32g/t Au from 414m, including:
- Follow-up drilling along strike from these intercepts is scheduled to commence in the coming days to define the extent of the south-trending zone of gold mineralisation with a diamond tail of drill-hole BWSRCD086.
- Drill results indicate the inadequacy of historical air-core drill testing with a significant search space now open on the boundary with the historical Bronzewing Mining Lease.
- Diamond drilling at the Central Target, located ~1.7km to the south of the Eastern Target and within the same structural corridor, has encountered zones of intense locally massive quartz veining associated with brecciation below historical Hammer gold drilling anomalies of:
- 20m at 1.5g/t Au from 120m in drill-hole BWSRC0037, including:
- 8m at 2.4g/t Au from 120m; and
- 4m at 3.9g/t Au from 120m.1
- 20m at 1.5g/t Au from 120m in drill-hole BWSRC0037, including:
- Assay results from the remaining program will be progressively released in the coming weeks.
Figure 1. Photo of massive quartz carbonate veining intersected in drill-hole BWSRCD082 diamond tail at Hammer’s Central Target Zone (213m to 221.5m).
Hammer’s Managing Director, Daniel Thomas, said:
“The confirmation of high-grade gold mineralisation at Bronzewing South is a significant step in our search for an economically viable gold target at our Yandal Gold Project. High-grade mineralisation can be traced with multiple intercepts to the north of our project area, with the mineralised structure interpreted to extend for hundreds of metres.
“We will now look to test this structure approximately 100m further south on our project area. We are very much looking forward to follow-up drilling at the Eastern Target, as we enter a zone without any previous drilling coverage.
“The team is encouraged by the observations in recent drilling at the Central Target and the potential for this corridor to be connected to the Eastern Target drilling some 1.7km to the north. This corridor is largely untested below the ineffectual air-core drilling and, with a prominent shear zone interpreted to connect these targets, it is of high interest to the team in our search for a significant gold discovery.”
Figure 2. Plan view of the Bronzewing South tenement EPM36/854, showing Bronzewing orebodies on Northern Star Resources mining lease, historical Hammer RC drilling intercepts and the structural corridor of interest containing Hammer’s Central and Eastern Target Zones (refer to ASX announcement 9 November 2020).
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Hammer Metals, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
