Perth-based mineral explorer Corazon Mining is taking a likely transformative step with its acquisition of a Western Australian gold project, which positions the company to unlock a significantly underexplored greenstone belt with high-grade gold potential.
The company recently signed a binding heads of agreement with WA-based natural resource project developer Mining Equities to acquire the Two Pools gold project in WA’s Plutonic-Marymia greenstone belt.
The deal is supported by a recent $2 million capital raiseand the appointment of mining engineer Simon Coyle as Corazon’s new managing director.
The Plutonic-Marymia greenstone belt forms part of the larger Proterozoic Capricorn Orogen - a linear zone significantly deformed by mountain-building processes, or orogeny. The belt lies between WA’s major Yilgarn and Pilbara cratons.
The region has produced more than 6 million ounces of gold since 1990, primarily from Catalyst Metals’ Plutonic gold mine, 60 kilometres southwest of Two Pools and 180km northeast of Meekatharra.
The Plutonic mine contains a 3.5-million-ounce gold resource grading 3.1 grams per tonne (g/t), which includes the Plutonic Main, Plutonic East and Trident deposits. Trident is still under development.
Catalyst is also working to expand the mine’s resource through exploration and infill drilling at the three deposits and others within the Plutonic gold belt.
Corazon’s Two Pools project spans 193 square kilometres within two contiguous exploration licences, which enclose a 3-6km wide, 20km-long greenstone belt previously misidentified as granite.
Reprocessing of aeromagnetic data and historical drilling by Great Central Mines between 1990 and 1994 and by AIC Resources in 2018 confirmed the gold mineralisation is associated with mafic and ultramafic amphibolite units.
Standout results from those companies include 12 metres at 8.89g/t gold, including 3m at 34.25g/t gold in one hole, 18m at 3.89g/t gold, including 4m at 15.96g/t gold in a second hole, and 8m at 7.83g/t gold, including 1m at 52.24g/t gold in a third hole.
Drilling has also revealed gold mineralisation extending beneath an interpreted granitic overthrust, exemplified by a 5m one intercept that assayed 3.61g/t gold, including 1m at 16.29g/t gold. The intercept points to further potential for blind, high-grade shoots similar to Catalyst’s Trident deposit.
Two Pools’ geological setting mirrors the Plutonic gold mine, where gold is hosted in mafic sequences within a structurally complex framework of reverse faults and shear zones.
Surface outcrops delivered gold grades up to 34.7g/t gold from exploration rock chip samples, while soil sampling defined a 400m by 1km anomaly running better than 10 parts per billion (ppb) gold that extends into the surrounding granite cover. The anomaly has peak values of up to 1.8g/t gold.
The anomalism points to abundant untested potential, further enhanced by the stratigraphic equivalence of the local greenstone within Corazon’s ground to Plutonic’s productive Unit 1 sequence.
Corazon Minerals incoming managing director Simon Coyle said: “I am incredibly pleased to be leading Corazon at such a pivotal time. The Two Pools gold project presents a remarkable opportunity, with historical high-grade intercepts and a compelling geological setting that has been overlooked until now.”
Coyle, who was appointed managing director earlier this month, brings more than 20 years of experience, including in senior roles at Pilbara Minerals, where he helped drive that company’s lithium project to global prominence.
The WA School of Mines graduate’s expertise in gold, iron ore, manganese and lithium strengthens Corazon’s exploration strategy.
The company he now leads was incorporated in 2005 as Xanadu Resources and renamed in 2010 after a prior name change from Graynic Metals. It historically focused on nickel, copper, cobalt and gold exploration.
Corazon’s flagship Lynn Lake nickel-copper-cobalt sulphide project in Manitoba, Canada, consolidated in 2016, remains a core asset. Its portfolio also includes the Mt Gilmore copper-gold project, near Grafton in New South Wales. It previously owned the lithium-industrial minerals Miriam project in the WA goldfields.
Corazon divested 85 per cent of Miriam’s lithium and industrial mineral rights in May last year to Future Battery Minerals (FBM) for $1 million in cash, 16 million FBM shares and performance rights.
In July, FMB bought Corazon’s remaining 15 per cent interest in Miriam’s lithium and industrial mineral rights, along with its base and precious metals rights, for $350,000.
Having fully exited Miriam, Corazon can now prioritise its remaining strategic assets, such as Two Pools and its flagship Lynn Lake and Mt Gilmore projects.
The company’s recent $2 million share placement at $0.002 per share is a 25 per cent discount to the August 1 closing price. Corazon will issue one billion shares to sophisticated and institutional investors, pending shareholder approval in September.
The fresh funds will support exploration at Two Pools, Corazon’s existing projects and provide working capital. Joint lead managers Discovery Capital Partners and Westar Capital will receive a 6 per cent fee and 50 million options at an exercise price of $0.004 with a three-year expiry.
The Two Pools deal includes a $100,000 execution fee in shares at $0.002, a further $500,000 in consideration shares and $1.5 million in performance rights tied to tenement grants and drilling milestones. Completion is due by November 5, subject to due diligence and approvals.
The company is also planning a 1-for-50 capital consolidation and to issue 600 million zero-exercise-price options to its board and management, again pending shareholder approval.
Corazon’s acquisition of the Two Pools gold project, with its high-grade gold intercepts and geological parallels to the nearby Plutonic gold mine, signals immense potential in a largely untested greenstone belt.
With Coyle’s leadership and $2 million in funding, the company is well-positioned to advance exploration and deliver an early initial JORC-compliant resource estimate, which could unlock significant value for shareholders.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Doug Bright
