Page 37 - pd290-Feb21-mag-web

Westar in the right rocksestar in the right rocksestar in the right rocks
W W

Westar managing director Karl Jupp
f the old adage that the best exploration Cross district which are subject to a farm-
Itakes place in the shadow of the head- in agreement with established producer inspects some of the old workings at
frame holds true, then Westar Resources Ramelius Resources Ltd. Gidgee South, one of two gold projects
Ltd is looking in all the right rocks. Jupp said while Opaline Well did not fit the company has near Sandstone
Despite being one of the last IPOs of the company’s initial criteria of being locat-
2020, Westar attracted plenty of interest ed within the Central Yilgarn region which
from eagle-eyed investors because of the encapsulates Sandstone, Mt Magnet and north, where gold was mined going at
strategic nature of its West Australian-fo- Southern Cross, it was an opportunity too about 1-1.5 oz/t back in the early 1900s,
cused gold portfolio. good to pass up. down to some more recent dry blowings
There were seven projects in the com- “There’s rock chips in old shafts grad- on the south of the project…it’s got all the
pany’s prospectus, all of which are hosted ing 200 g/t,” Jupp said. “The whole region right ingredients for a potential discovery.”
in prolific gold-producing regions, includ- is absolutely underexplored, it’s elephant Ramelius has committed to spending $2
ing Sandstone, Mt Magnet and Southern country.” million on exploration at Mt Finnerty and
Cross. The Opaline Well project in the Pil- Jupp said each of the company’s pro- Parker Dome over a three-year window
bara is also just a stone’s throw away from jects had met a strict set of criteria, being to earn up to 75% of the JV area. Westar
where Calidus Resources Ltd has started hosted in the right rocks, having the right would then hold a 25% stake which is free
constructing the 1.25 moz Warrawoona location close to key infrastructure and carried until a decision to mine.
gold mine. came with the right people involved. It is an area of significant interest to
“Our plan was never to go out and peg In pulling together the project portfo- Ramelius given the company operates
moose pasture, do some exploration and lio, the Westar geology team also had to one of only two mills in the Southern Cross
hope for the best,” Westar managing direc- convert a number of historic datasets into district and is also developing a number of
tor Karl Jupp told Paydirt last month fol- a modern digital format which Jupp ac- stranded assets, such as Marda and Tam-
lowing the company’s $5 million IPO and knowledged was vital in determining which pia, within a 200km radius of its Edna May
trading debut on the ASX in mid-Decem- prospects made the final cut. mine.
ber. Last month the company reported prior- Historical drill assays from Mt Finnerty,
“It had to be geology that we knew had ity targets at Coolaloo and Winjangoo fol- about 100km east of Marda, include hits of
potential and obviously the greenstone lowing geophysical and geochemical work 9m @ 9.8 g/t gold, 24m @ 3.68 g/t, 1m @
belts have always been good historical on both projects. Drilling programmes 263.3 g/t and 12m @ 23.3 g/t.
places to explore for gold mineralisation. I were being designed at the time of print for Jupp expects the $5 million his company
doubt there’s a piece of greenstone in WA later this quarter. collected from the IPO to keep Westar in
that’s not pegged at the moment, so we’re Gidgee South has emerged as the po- good standing for the next two years, al-
pretty fortunate to have the project portfo- tential flagship project for Westar. Results though he is hoping to deliver a discovery
lio that we do. from a recent reconnaissance aircore drill- or two along the way which could entice
“It’s been said before that the best explo- ing programme were also due at the time accelerated exploration efforts.
ration is in the shadow of the headframe, of print, with the company looking to get “We are planning for success, which
and that’s exactly where we’re looking at back out on the ground within the next means exploring for a discovery, and then
Gidgee South.” month or so. we want to accelerate drilling to see how
Westar’s listing was a process essen- “One thing we’re aware our investors big whatever we find can be,” he said.
tially four years in the making, beginning want is a priority project and as much as “If Westar needs additional funding to
with the acquisitions of the Winjangoo and we are planning to be exploring all of our achieve this, it is going to be on the back
Coolaloo tenements in the Mt Magnet re- projects, Gidgee South is our focus,” Jupp of good results and exploration success,
gion in 2017. said. which is absolutely what we’re aiming to
The company also brought to mar- “Part of the reason for the Gidgee South achieve. There is no slowing down as we
ket the Gidgee South and Gidgee North focus is the large number of historical plan on drilling at two of our three wholly
projects near Sandstone, as well as Mt workings on the project in between the owned projects in Q1 2021.”
Finnerty and Parker Dome in the Southern excised Birrigrin mining centre up to the – Michael Washbourne

aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT FeBRUaRY 2021 Page 37