Kalamazoo waits on WA drill results chasing Hemi-style gold

Kalamazoo Resources has successfully wrapped up the latest reverse circulation (RC) drilling campaign at its Mallina West gold project in WA’s Pilbara region, which is designed to help the company chase down its own Hemi-style intrusive gold play.

Sitting just 70km south of ASX-listed De Grey Mining’s remarkable 11-million-ounce Hemi gold project, Kalamazoo’s data has suggested its own geophysical targets may be prospective for the same unusual style of deposit - intruding through granite rather than greenstone.

Five RC drill holes across 1034m were drilled along the same major shear zone as Hemi to follow up on a previous high-grade intersections, including 1m grading 10.35 grams per tonne (g/t) from 100m depth.

As part of the funding for the campaign, Kalamazoo also received $126,625 under a West Australian Government exploration incentive scheme (EIS) to help cover the cost of an additional diamond hole, which was drilled to a depth of 195.1m.

The company says all drilling activities were completed safely and on schedule, with samples now enroute to laboratories for multi-element analysis. Results are expected next year.

We are delighted to finish the year with a drilling program at this highly prospective project and look forward to continuing to explore here and at our other WA and Victorian projects in 2025.

The company manages a broad portfolio of gold and base metal projects, including the Castlemaine goldfield project and the South Muckleford gold project in Victoria.

Its ground position in the Pilbara, however, remains the primary focus and holds the most promising prospects, partly because of their proximity to Hemi.

After Northern Star Mining saw fit to lob a $5 billion bid on the table for De Grey two weeks ago, interest in another of Kalamazoo’s holdings in the region, the Ashburton gold project has further intensified. Ashburton is the subject of an options agreement with De Grey.

Kalamazoo is waiting to hear if De Grey intends to exercise the $33 million option for the project, which sits directly south of Hemi. The resource could add a valuable source of differentiating material to De Grey’s deposit by helping the overall blending of ore for easier processing.

One way or another, Kalamazoo is pregnant with potentially very bullish news right now.

On the one hand, the results from the recently completed drill program might unearth a new discovery. On the other, De Grey may elect to take up its option on the Ashburton project, in which case Kalamazoo will be $33m richer. Or, in a perfect world, both could happen simultaneously and the company may well become the next market darling.

One thing for sure, punters will not need to wait long to find out.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@wanews.com.au