Market backs Great Southern with oversubscribed $2.5m raise

Great Southern Mining has rattled the tin for $2.5 million that will largely be funnelled into exploration at its exciting Duketon gold project about 45km north of Laverton in WA’s prolific north-eastern Goldfields. Last week the company reeled off a stellar 59m drill intersection grading 2.1 grams per tonne gold from 53m down hole at the project’s Southern Star prospect.

The wide headline intersection included higher-grade sections of 9m going 4.5 g/t and 16m at 3.2 g/t gold.

Other notable intercepts from Great Southern’s inaugural RC drilling program at Southern Star were 46m at 1.2 g/t gold from 40m including 11m at 3.4 g/t gold, 5m at 2.7 g/t from 127m including 2m at 6.3 g/t and 19m at 1.8 g/t from 64m including 6m at 3.9 g/t gold.

The Perth-based company says funding from the “oversubscribed” placement of 50 million shares at 5¢ apiece to new and existing sophisticated and professional investors will help expand and rapidly advance drilling work at Duketon.

Duketon’s One Weight Wonder, Erlistoun and Ogilvies regional prospects will also be targeted in the company’s ramped-up exploration mix. 

Great Southern Mining Chief Executive Officer Sean Gregory said: “The recently announced intersections at Southern Star were a fantastic start to the drilling program at the company’s 100 per cent-owned Duketon greenstone belt project.”

“Drilling at a number of regional targets has been brought forward to rapidly advance exploration activities in the region and to continue to build on this success at Southern Star.”

Great Southern says the promising drill hits at Southern Star point to mineralisation at the footwall of the same quartz dolerite unit that takes in Regis Resources’ 390,000-ounce Ben Hur gold deposit 4km north-west along strike on the Rosemont trend.

Regis’ Rosemont open-pit and underground million ounce-plus gold mine also lies about 24km north-west along strike of Southern Star.

According to the company, the footwall quartz dolerite unit appears to be where the primary lode occurs.

The RC drilling at Southern Star, where more than 3,400m has been punched out so far, was aimed at delineating the extent of mineralisation that the company says remains open to the north, south and at depth.

Further assays from the current campaign are pending.

Great Southern’s recently acquired Duketon project spans more than 450 square kilometres within the auriferous Duketon greenstone belt.

RC drilling carried out by previous owners of Southern Star yielded a veritable smorgasbord of encouraging intersections.

Stand-out intercepts include 15m at 6.5 g/t gold including 4m at 23.3 g/t gold, 50m at 1.8 g/t including 5m at 9.2 g/t and 25m at 2.5 g/t including 5m at 10.7 g/t.

Other solid hits were 50m at 1.6 g/t including 17m at 3.8 g/t, 34m at 2.3 g/t including 12m at 5.3 g/t, 12m at 4 g/t including 8m at 5.9 g/t, 26m at 1.6 g/t including 5m at 6.3 g/t and 15m at 2.2 g/t including 4m at 7.4 g/t.

Great Southern looks to have plenty to work with at Duketon and no doubt gold watchers will be keeping a close eye on the calibre of drilling results coming out of the new project.

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