Historical field programs underway at Javelin’s non-core Bonaparte project in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Credit: File
Javelin Minerals has intensified its focus on the company’s two flagship Kalgoorlie gold projects by placing a for sale sign on its Bonaparte copper-silver-lead-zinc project in WA’s Kimberley region.
The strategic doubling down on gold by the company follows its recent acquisition of the Eureka gold project north of Kalgoorlie, which adds to its Coogee gold project near Kambalda, both of which have historic pits that Javelin believes are harbouring more gold.
The Bonaparte project lies just 35km east of the substantial Sorby Hills discovery which hosts 47.3 million tonnes of mineralisation going 35 grams per tonne silver, 0.4 per cent zinc and 3.1 per cent lead, making it Australia’s second largest undeveloped silver-lead-zinc deposit.
Management says that while Bonaparte is a “non-core” asset for Javelin, the 564 square kilometre project remains a solid opportunity that has seen very little modern exploration at its existing three mineralised prospects – Martin’s Gossan, Copper Gossan, and Redbank Hills.
Each of these have demonstrated encouraging early assays, with Martin’s Gossan yielding up to 45.7g/t silver, 2.65 per cent zinc, and 5.24 per cent lead from rock chip samples, whilst supplemental soil sampling revealed a priority geochemical anomaly 2km long and 1km wide.
At the Redbank Hills prospect substantial shows of lead and zinc from rock samples assaying up to 53.8 per cent lead and 43.2 per cent zinc outline an extensive geochemical anomaly roughly 4.5km in length by 1.2km in width that warrants further inspection. Similarly, at Copper Gossan, rock chip programs returned significant copper assay values peaking up to a 15.95 per cent.
Javelin has also conducted a closer examination of regional mineralisation throughout the Bonaparte Basin which hosts both Sorby Hills and the company’s Bonaparte project. According to the company, rock phases in the region imply analogues between the Bonaparte Basin and the globally significant Lennard Shelf, which hosts the Mississippi Valley-type lead-zinc operations in the USA.
The company says much of the exploration to date has been limited to surface sampling and sporadic rock chip assays, which means the project remains relatively underexplored by today’s standards. Modern techniques such as geophysical surveys, advanced soil geochemistry and all-important testing by the drill bit could give a second life to the untested base metals opportunity at Bonaparte.
Javelin Minerals executive chairman Brett Mitchell said: “The Bonaparte project has been exposed to very little recent exploration and has significant upside based on the historical copper, silver, lead and zinc exploration results. Given our very active exploration schedule totally focused on Eureka and Coogee, we have decided to offer Bonaparte for sale.”
The Bonaparte sale aligns with Javelin’s strategic pivot to search for near mine riches left behind at historic open pit sites which include its Coogee and Eureka projects north and south of Kalgoorlie.
Since acquiring Coogee in 2020, Javelin has increased its resource inventory through targeted drilling, with recent upgrades bringing Coogee’s gold resource from a little over 10,000 ounces of gold to over 126,000 ounces.
A recent re-look at Coogee however has thrown up some tantalising near mine geophysical opportunities which Javelin believes just might emulate the well-publicised near mine discoveries made by companies like Spectrum Metals and Spartan Resources – both of which found multi-million dollar gold deposits lurking within 300m of historic open pits.
Javelin also recently acquired the Eureka project to the north of Kalgoorlie, featuring its own 112,000-ounce gold resource, just 20km north-west of the multi-million-ounce Paddington gold operation that has been mined for years and is well known for doing toll treating deals.
Paddington has turned out more than four million ounces during its production history from the same prospective rock sequences as mapped at Eureka.
Javelin says prior drilling was poorly targeted at Eureka and was not deep enough to follow the interpreted high-grade gold structures properly.
It has a theory that the old-timers were too focussed on the existing pit and were not motivated to spend too much money exploring the areas around it.
Javelin’s move to divest non-core assets signals a clear commitment to growth in the gold sector, positioning the company as a key player in WA’s prolific goldfields. A sale of Bonaparte will enable Javelin to focus on the drill bit at Coogee and Eureka – a proposition that is getting increasingly popular amongst market watchers.
