Corazon Mining has dusted off decades of historical data and revealed what it believes is a sizeable, largely overlooked gold system at its wholly owned Two Pools project in Western Australia, defining a continuous gold anomaly that stretches a whopping four kilometres along strike.
The discovery followed a comprehensive technical review that pulled together historical drilling, soil sampling and rock chip data, exposing a far larger gold footprint than previously recognised. Data mining is one of the most lucrative and certainly the cheapest exploration methods out there and one thing remains a constant - the old timers always left plenty of gold in the ground.
Much of the Two Pools system has only been tested to shallow depths, leaving Corazon with a pipeline of walk-up drill targets as it prepares to get the rigs turning.
The standout area is the predictably named Target Area 1, where soil geochemistry outlines a broad 1.8 kilometres by 1.2km anomaly extending beyond known drilling.
Historical holes within this zone have returned a string of shallow, high-grade intercepts, including a hefty 14 metres at 2.64 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 14m depth, including 6m running a cool 5.52g/t gold from 16m. Another hit returned 13m at a decent 2.71g/t gold from 13m, including 2m at a respectable 4.43g/t gold from 14m. Additional intercepts appear to reinforce the near-surface tenor of mineralisation.
Notably, the majority of historical drilling across the 4km trend did not extend below about 75m depth, leaving the system wide open, both at depth and along strike. Corazon believes this lack of deeper testing may have masked the true scale of the mineralised system.
Two Pools is about a 200km drive up the road from Meekatharra in WA’s famed Gascoyne mining district and fortuitously lies just 60km northeast of Catalyst Metals’ under-utilised Plutonic mill.
Geologically, the project sits within the Capricorn orogenic belt, wedged between the Pilbara and Yilgarn cratons, in a setting analogous to the nearby Plutonic–Marymia gold camp.
Gold mineralisation at Two Pools generally occurs in quartz vein networks that crisscross mafic amphibolites and granodiorite, associated with sheared contacts - a style remarkably consistent with other significant gold systems in the area.
The region has delivered more than 6 million ounces of gold since 1990, primarily from Catalyst Metals’ Plutonic gold mine.
Indeed, the Two Pools project shares striking geological similarities with Catalyst Metals’ high-grade Trident deposit, where gold-bearing greenstones sit beneath a thin wedge of overthrust older granite. Trident hosts a significant high-grade resource of 5.1 million tonnes grading 5.2 grams per tonne gold for 811,000 ounces.
Corazon Mining managing director Simon Coyle said: “The results of this comprehensive review confirm our confidence in the potential of the Two Pools project. Defining a 4km long gold anomaly — much of which has only been tested to very shallow depths — highlights a significant scale of opportunity that has been overlooked until now. Finding high-grade, unreported intercepts like 14m at 2.64g/t Au provides us with immediate, high-priority targets.”
Drill planning and contractor engagement logistics are well advanced, with Corazon steering towards a maiden drill campaign in the first quarter of this year.
The company has also strengthened its technical pew with the appointment of veteran geologist Sammy Bakie as exploration manager, bringing relevant regional knowledge from past roles at Doray Minerals, AngloGold Ashanti, Gateway Mining and Black Cat Syndicate.
Beyond Two Pools, Corazon is continuing to build a broader WA gold portfolio with its Feather Cap project down the road, while retaining leverage to critical minerals through its Lynn Lake nickel-copper-cobalt project in Canada.
In a strong gold price environment, shallow ounces matter and Two Pools is shaping up as the sort of system that can move rapidly from drill success to development optionality.
With a 4km gold corridor now clearly mapped, shallow high-grade hits already in hand and drill rigs set to rev up, Corazon is about to find out whether Two Pools can graduate from an overlooked anomaly into Western Australia’s next emerging gold system.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
