Great Southern lands $337k grant to drive WA gold and platinum hunt

Great Southern Mining has locked in $337,500 of co-funded drilling grants from the West Australian Government’s Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS), giving its Duketon and East Laverton projects a serious leg-up.

Only 39 applications were successful in the latest round of the highly competitive EIS program, which supports technically strong exploration concepts that could unlock new discoveries in Western Australia’s greenfields terrain.

The lion’s share of the funding of $220,000 will go towards two exciting deep diamond holes at the company’s Ogilvies prospect within the Golden Boulder target area of its wholly owned Duketon gold project. 

The balance of $117,500, will fund a 900-metre diamond hole into a platinum group element (PGE) and base metals target at the company’s Diorite Hill layered intrusive complex in East Laverton.

Great Southern Mining managing director Matthew Keane said: “The two diamond holes in the Golden Boulder area will be critical in defining the stratigraphic and structural controls on the high-grade gold mineralisation near surface. At East Laverton, a single diamond hole at Diorite Hill will test several dense stratigraphic horizons similar to the Merensky Reef of the Bushveld Complex in South Africa, known for its rich platinum mineralisation.”

At Ogilvies, the company will kick off with drill two holes into the Golden Boulder zone, which is part of a major gold-bearing corridor linked to the Rosemont Fault. The fault is the same structure that hosts Regis Resources’ key gold deposits of Rosemont, Baneygo, Ben Hur and Southern Star immediately to the north.

Geophysical studies show major faults in the area reach deep into the Earth, acting like pathways for gold-rich fluids to rise towards the surface. Gold tends to form where these fluids hit certain reactive rocks or cracks caused by bending in the fault. 

One of these bends just happens to coincide with the Ogilvies prospect where quartz-dolerite cuts through the surrounding rocks, setting up a prime target for potentially rich gold mineralisation.

The two deep holes, totalling 1,600 metres, will probe the depth potential of the gold system and deliver the first real look at the rocks and structures running through Great Southern’s slice of the Rosemont Shear - data that could unlock not just Ogilvies, but possibly the entire Duketon belt.

Past drilling at Golden Boulder has already produced some eye-catching hits including 5m at 14.57 grams per tonne gold from 41m and 4m at 5.64g/t from 63m. Historic workings between 1900 and 1955 also returned bonanza grades, with 1,915 tonnes mined at an average 28.6g/t for 1,761 ounces of gold.

Meanwhile, at Diorite Hill, a single hole will target two hidden layers picked out from seismic data recently reprocessed by Geoscience Australia. Called Units A and B, the layers are believed by the company’s geologists to resemble South Africa’s legendary Merensky Reef, which is one of the richest platinum deposits on the planet.

No explorer has ever drilled deep enough to test these hidden zones, which lie under a layer of cover. Management says using seismic data this way is a first for Western Australia and it could pave the way for a brand-new mineral province.

Great Southern will start with a reverse circulation pre-collar down to 120m to punch through the weathered ground, then continue with 780m of diamond core drilling through fresh rock to hit both targets.

While Duketon and East Laverton are stealing the headlines, Great Southern and its heavyweight joint venture partner, South African gold giant Gold Fields, are rolling the dice in Far North Queensland. 

The pair has kicked off a high-impact diamond drilling campaign at Edinburgh Park, chasing two standout induced polarisation targets called Leichhardt Creek and Mt Dillon - both of which are showing the hallmarks of major intrusion-related gold-copper-silver systems.

With EIS drilling slated to kick off in early 2026, Great Southern now has the firepower to chase both the gold-rich depths of Duketon and the platinum potential of East Laverton. 

Success on either front could be a game-changer, setting the company up for its next big growth leap in Western Australia’s mineral heartland.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au