Kula granted critical minerals niobium project in Malawi
Kula says the mineralisation starts at surface and coincides with wide zones of niobium and tantalum enrichment over an 800m by 300m soil anomaly, providing large-scale potential for a critical mineral widely used in advanced alloys and electric vehicle components. Managing director Ric Dawson described the grant as a pivotal milestone, highlighting the low-cost, high-impact nature of the opportunity and its strategic fit with global supply chains increasingly hungry for secure niobium supply.
The company plans to commence mapping, soil and rock chip sampling before launching a first drill campaign targeting a maiden resource by late this year.
Kula notes its Wozi project sits within the geologically fertile Mozambique Orogenic Belt, part of the greater East African Rift Valley System. Despite the project's compelling historical trench results, it has seen no historical drilling, placing Kula in the rare position of having a first mover advantage in a region with excellent road infrastructure for low-cost exploration and development. While niobium steals the spotlight today, Kula's flagship asset remains its Mt Palmer gold project near Southern Cross in WA's Western Goldfields, where successive drilling programs have delivered multiple high-grade hits.
Results from recent drilling include standout intercepts such as 20m at 7.5 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 22m, including 6m going an imposing 23.8g/t, and 9m grading 13.6g/t from 33m, including 3m at 38.4g/t. The company says these shallow, high-grade zones point to early potential for low-cost open-pit mining. Additional stage two reverse circulation drilling at Mt Palmer has produced further impressive assays, including 18m at 4.7g/t gold with an individual 2m interval running up to 31.3g/t, effectively an ounce per tonne. These high-grade zones are distributed across multiple new mineralised structures, including the New Lode and Busey Shoot, with ongoing drilling designed to convert these discoveries into a resource estimate. Kula has also been busy advancing its Mustang gold prospect at its Kirup project in WA's South West, where it made the first drill hole into a previously untested soil anomaly supported by the WA Government's Exploration Incentive Scheme. That hole intersected 2m at 2.3g/t gold from 34m, while rock chips along strike have returned up to 4.8g/t, adding weight to the potential of a new gold system.
The company plans additional closely spaced magnetics and reverse circulation drilling to build on this emerging discovery. Adding to its impressive WA portfolio, Kula's Boomerang kaolin deposit near Southern Cross hosts a 93.3-million-tonne maiden resource of kaolin clay announced in mid-2022, which is now advancing through economic studies and moving towards potential joint venture or private equity funding. The company's quarterly activities report also highlighted Kula's strengthened balance sheet after raising $1.39 million through an entitlement offer, ensuring it remains well-funded to continue advancing both its WA and Malawi assets. Further, Kula has met its expenditure requirements to earn an 80 per cent interest in Mt Palmer, confirming its control over this high-grade gold belt. As the gold price continues to hover above $5000 an ounce, Kula's dual-pronged strategy of pursuing both traditional precious metal exploration and exposure to critical minerals, such as niobium, puts the company in a rare position to capitalise on both ends of the resource sector spectrum. With aggressive exploration plans across multiple projects in WA and now Malawi, Kula is setting a cracking pace in its quest to unearth the next big discovery - whether it be sparkling gold or metals critical to a low-carbon future.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact:
matt.birney@wanews.com.au
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