Artemis Resources uncovers gold potential at platinum project in Pilbara

Artemis Resources (ASX: ARV) has determined gold potential at its Pilbara-based Munni Munni platinum group element deposit about 20km south of Purdy’s Reward, where the first conglomerate discovery was made.

Many watermelon seed-shaped nuggets have been uncovered at Purdy’s Reward and nearby projects in the region, which has placed the Pilbara in the global spotlight again, this time for gold.

The formation of the nuggets and the conglomerate mineralisation are considered similar to the Witwatersrand deposit in South Africa, which has produced 1.5 billion ounces of gold and is the world’s largest known gold resource.

Artemis’ joint venture partner for Purdy’s Reward, Novo Resources (TSX: NVO), believes the Pilbara could host a similar-style deposit, which has triggered a modern gold rush.

With substantial landholding in the area, Artemis has been actively reviewing its tenements for the conglomerate-style mineralisation including its Munni Munni project.

After reviewing 2,218m of previous drill samples from Munni Munni, Fortescue Group sediments were recovered.

Fortescue Group rocks are considered to host the gold bearing conglomerates which have been found at Purdy’s Reward.

“We now have nearly 15,000m of diamond drill core and reverse circulation drilling to work our way through to determine the gold potential in these Fortescue sediments,” Artemis executive chairman David Lenigas said.

“It’s these Fortescue Group rocks that we believe is the host of the gold at our nearby Purdy’s Reward conglomerate gold discovery,” he added.

With existing mining, exploration licences and associate heritage agreements in place, should Artemis uncover an economic gold resource at Munni Munni, the company could feasibly fast-track development at the project.

As Australia’s largest platinum group element resource, Mr Lenigas said it as “extraordinary” the company had found “so much Fortescue sediments” overlying the Munni Munni deposit.

The Munni Munni deposit has a 2004 JORC compliant resource of 24 million tonnes grading 2.9 grams per tonne platinum group elements.

Included in that resource, is 152,000 ounces of gold.

Artemis has the right to earn a 70% stake in Munni Munni after spending A$750,000 on exploration between 2015 and 2018.

Shares in Artemis were up again on today’s news, ending the day at A$0.42, more than 13% higher than Friday’s close.

Since mid-August, Artemis’ stock price has surged 200% from A$0.14 to today’s closing price.