Page 52 - pd268-Feb19-magweb

SOUTHERN STATES
Kalamazoo slithers into
Castlemaine
The Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd legend con-
tinues to grow in Victoria.
Production and exploration success
at Fosterville has started a new genera-
tion gold boom in the State and few could
blame Kirkland if it refrained from engag-
ing with other companies looking to make
a name for themselves in the Victorian
goldfields.
However, this is not the case, according
to Kalamazoo Resources Ltd chairman
Luke Reinehr.
“We have found that Kirkland has been
very supportive of Kalamazoo. Kirkland
wants a successful gold industry in Victo-
ria and they welcome the success of oth-
ers,” Reinehr told Paydirt.
Kalamazoo’s entry to the Victorian gold
sector came mid-2018 with the acquisi-
tion of a 70sq km EL containing the Wattle
Gully gold project and surrounding Castle-
maine goldfield.
Castlemaine (5.6 moz gold) is one of
Victoria’s great historic gold production
centres along with Ballarat (10 moz) and
Bendigo (22 moz), home to Fosterville.
Kalamazoo’s interests at Castlemaine,
just 45km south-west of Fosterville, have
become a key focus of the company’s at-
tention in light of a profitable asset sale in to Kalamazoo, while the latter retains a
late 2018.
In a tough market for juniors, Reinehr
said realising value from its Snake Well
gold play in Western Australia was the
preferred option to allow the company to
accelerate exploration at Castlemaine. In
a transaction worth $7 million, Kalamazoo
sold the high-grade Snake Well project it
originally acquired from Atlas Iron to the
Kalamazoo’s acquisition of the entire Castlemaine goldfield
in central Victoria, included 90,000m of drill core
Page 52 FEBRUARY 2019 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT
Adaman Resources
JV comprised of Mark
Rowsthorn’s Rivet
Group and drilling
and exploration outfit
the Mitchell Group.
The deal delivered
a true win-win out-
come for both parties,
with material from
Snake Well to com-
pliment Adaman’s
Kirkalocka gold mine,
bought in May 2018.
Key terms of the
cash sale included Historic gold production from Castlemaine was 5.6 moz
Adaman paying $7
million over two years lay Resources Corp, Chalice Gold Mines
Ltd and Kalamazoo, there is no doubt the
2.5% NSR on base metals from Snake wave of investment will continue.
Well.
“We have to get exploration success,
Meanwhile, Kalamazoo has an option to that is our focus for the next two years,”
access $4 million worth of drilling from the Reinehr said.
Mitchell Group, which suits its plans to ag-
gressively explore at Wattle Gully, Pilbara “We’ve had a fair bit of interest in JVs
and Doolgunna, where drilling at Cork from parties, but that’s not in our interest
Tree is being targeted in Q1. being a small company. Not many juniors
have been able to do what we did with
Kalamazoo’s involvement in Victoria will Snake Well; acquire an asset like that,
also provide the Mitchell Group some ex- make money from it from trial mining and
posure in a state going through an explora- then realise the value in it through sale.
tion renaissance. Having capacity now and putting a team
together, we’ll be consolidating the core
According to ABS statistics, exploration farm and extensive pulps, while looking at
expenditure in Victoria in 2017/18 totalled the technologies and techniques Kirkland
$73.7 million, a massive 126% increase has been applying in the goldfields so we
from the 2013/14 period. can focus on the right drill targets.”
As confidence grows in the State’s sec- Despite being a historic goldfield, the av-
tor, particularly on the back of central Vic- erage drilling depth at Castlemaine is just
torian goldfields explorers like Catalyst 139m. And, given that Kirkland is mining at
Metals Ltd, Navarre Minerals Ltd, Manda-
800m and drilling at 1,200m depths at Fos-
terville, Reinehr is excited by the potential
Kalamazoo has in its portfolio.
To assist with its exploration endeav-
ours, Kalamazoo is collaborating with
CSIRO in multi-element minerals vector-
ing studies for geochemical survey pur-
poses, while mapping, structural interpre-
tation and modelling will continue ahead of
drilling priority targets.
Steering Kalamazoo’s work on the
ground will be newly appointed exploration
manager Luke Mortimer, a former principal
exploration geologist with MMG Ltd.
– Mark Andrews