E79 Gold Mines clinches deal with Gascoyne Resources to boost Jungar Flats project area
E79 Gold met its second earn-in milestone by spending $500,000 on exploration with assays from drilling expected in “the coming months”.
E79 Gold Mines (ASX: E79) will expand its Jungar Flats gold and base metals project a further 25km south towards the Big Bell gold mine, which is the largest mine in the Murchison region of Western Australia.
It has applied for a new tenement — E51/2122 — and, under an agreement with Gascoyne Resources (ASX: GCY), E79 Gold will acquire that company’s E51/1681 licence.
Overall, Jungar Flats will be extended by 37% to 541 square kilometres.
This means that Jungar Flats contains a strike length of about 90km over the Big Bell Shear and associated structures.
Reduced entry cost
The new project ground is prospective for gold and base metals, and complements the company’s existing tenure, which is prospective for gold, base metals, iron ore and platinum group metals.
However, Gascoyne will retain iron ore and ferrous metals rights on its tenement E51/1681.
E79 Gold noted that this gives it access to the commodities on which it is focusing at a reduced entry cost.
The terms of the agreement with Gascoyne provide for a payment of $50,000 cash and $100,000 worth of E79 Gold shares.
E79 Gold will also be responsible for the state’s minimum spend requirement at E51/1681 for the next three years.
One of the company’s key exploration areas
E79 Gold chief executive officer Ned Summerhayes said Jungar Flats is one of the company’s key exploration areas.
“Importantly, exposes our company to more than 90km of the highly prospective Big Bell Shear,” he noted.
Jungar Flats is located 70km west of Meekatharra and 45km north-northeast of the 2.8Moz Big Bell gold deposit.
Modern exploration over the two new tenements began in the early 1970s with various companies exploring for base metals deposits.
In the 1980s BHP (ASX: BHP) began large-scale gold exploration, identifying multiple gold prospects.
More recent explorers have been focusing on the iron ore potential, with thick zones of elevated iron identified — and that Gascoyne is holding on to its rights over that part the deposit.