Strickland proposes base metal spin out

Strickland Metals is looking to demerge its non-core assets and deliver a standalone ASX base metals explorer as the company works to stack on gold ounces at its flagship project on WA’s well-endowed Yandal greenstone belt north-east of Wiluna. The proposed spin-out will see the company’s Iroquois zinc-lead and Bryah Basin assets packaged into a new wholly owned subsidiary that will seek to list on the ASX in the first quarter of 2023.

The demerger will involve a full ‘in-specie’ delivery of shares to Strickland shareholders at no cost. Existing shareholders will also receive priority allocations in the initial public offering capital raise. The leaner subsidiary vessel will allow for more dedicated and focused exploration programs.

Currently, the main focus of Strickland’s attention has been to pursue additional ounces at the company’s flagship Millrose gold project within its broader Yandal tenement package 85km north-east of Wiluna in WA. Whilst the region is renowned for gold, in 2021, the explorer made a discovery of zinc and lead – coined Iroquois – directly along strike from ASX-listed Rumble Resources’ world-class Earaheedy project.

Strickland Metals Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Bray said: “The work completed to date has shown that Iroquois warrants development as a standalone ASX-listed base metals company. Should the spin out proceed as proposed, Iroquois will be front-and-centre of the new company.”

In October last year, Strickland announced it had hit paydirt at Iroquois with an initial five-hole campaign returning thick mineralised intercepts including 23 metres at 5.5 per cent combined zinc and lead from 108m. Notably, its encounter was about 20km along strike of Rumble Resources’ significant base metals discovery in April.

The explorer continued the flow of intercepts earlier this year with a high-grading 3m hit going 7.6 per cent zinc from 65m. Since then, Strickland has steadily advanced exploration at Iroquois with soil and rock-chip geochemical sampling in addition to various geophysical surveys. The work has yielded several targets for probing with preparation now underway for a larger drilling campaign to commence in early 2023.

Strickland also plans to spin out its 260-square-kilometre Bryah Basin project located 80km north of Meekatharra in WA’s Gascoyne region. The asset is considered largely a greenfield project in a highly prospective area, providing an opportunity for the future listing to make its mark.

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