Latest news with #Gascoyne
News.com.au
04-07-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Barry FitzGerald: Euroz analyst takes a liking to WA explorer Benz
'Garimpeiro' columnist Barry FitzGerald has covered the resources industry for 35 years. Now he's sharing the benefits of his experience with Stockhead readers. Euroz Hartleys resources analyst Kyle De Souza has shown he has a dab hand at writing headlines for his research reports. His recent tome on the dual-listed gold explorer Benz Mining Corp (ASX:BNZ) was titled 'BNZ: Spartan had a baby. Named it Benz.' It was a neat way of highlighting that Spartan Resources (ASX:SPR) of Dalgranaga/Never Never/Pepper fame in WA – and now the subject of a friendly takeover by Ramelius Resources (ASX:RMS) – sold Benz its non-core but advanced Glenburgh and Mt Egerton gold projects in WA's Gascoyne for shares and some cash, giving Spartan 14.9% of Benz. Announced in November last year and taking effect in mid-January, the acquisition has led to Benz motoring from 26c a CDI (Toronto is its home market) in November to 34c in mid-January, and 53c mid-week for a market cap of $134 million. Now Benz should have been motoring anyway on the strength of its 1Moz high-grade gold resource at its Eastmain project in Quebec due to gold prices taking off this year. But it is the unfolding potential at Glenburgh – 285km east of Carnarvon – that has fired up interest in the stock. Glenburgh: A history Glenburgh was considered a development option back in 2015 for Spartan when it was known as Gascoyne but it was pretty much parked up when Dalgaranga in WA's Murchison region was developed. Benz picked up Glenburgh with a restated 510,000oz resource grading 1g/t gold. But it was recognised as being underexplored with the potential for more high-grade shoots, which is what Benz is now pursuing in an aggressive and fully-funded drilling program, with impressive results starting to flow (including 10m at 12.9g/t from 299m). De Souza is a big wrap for Glenburgh, saying 'grades and thicknesses like this continue to demonstrate the capability for this project to exceed expectations.' He has an 81c target price on the stock. (The firm was lead manager to a Benz equity raising at 40c and has disclosed it has received fees for corporate advice). When Garimpeiro says De Souza is a big wrap for Glenburgh he wasn't joking. In his June 30 research note on the stock De Souza mused that it can be hard to differentiate in the junior explorer world between what is a real 'discovery' and what is not. 'Whilst some get lucky on 'one hit wonders' – most end up with subsequent 'dusters' and erosion of wealth,' he said. 'The real value in exploration is picking companies with assets that have the potential to sustain production profiles of more than 100,000ozpa for more than 10 years.' Price target lift In De Souza's eyes, Benz is one of them, saying their discovery 'should not be overlooked', especially in the contest of Glenburgh's existing 500,000oz resource also providing a solid base. 'We model an average 102,000ozpa and 7-year life of mine based on what we believe the company has in the ground – and thus, a 10 year LOM at more than 100,000ozpa doesn't seem unreasonable,' he said. De Souza pointed to Glenburgh's thick intersections from surface and the high grade underground kickers yet to be tested at depth. 'We maintain our Speculative Buy recommendation but increase our price target from 60c to 81c. The FY2025 is set to be a transformational year for Benz,' De Souza said. No surprise in knowing that Benz CEO and former new developments specialist for US gold giant Barrick, Mark Lynch-Staunton, is also keen as mustard on Glenburgh's potential. Announcing the recent high-grade exploration hits, Lynch-Staunton said Glenburgh has the potential to host a significant gold system, and the latest results strongly supported that view. He said there was a dual-track approach to advancing the large-scale open pit potential at the Icon-Apollo deposits alongside the high-grade underground opportunities at the adjacent Zone 126 lens.
News.com.au
12-06-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
These explorers are looking to revamp gold in the historic Gascoyne
Gold exploration in Gascoyne heating up BNZ, SPR and WYX eyeing a slice of the pie Region also prospective for precious metals like silver WA's Gascoyne region was dug up by old timers for over a century, with towns built on the dreams of gold prospectors. And plenty of what glittered turned out to be gold. Notable mines included the Star of Mangaroon, which was found in 1956 and mined until 1983, producing a total of 7464oz of gold at a whopping 34.8g/t gold. The story goes that the assayer wrote on the bottom of his report 'If you don't start working this, I'll come up and do it myself.' In recent years, the region has received a new lease on life, with major discoveries in gold, rare earths, lithium and more. But today we're looking at the goldies who are looking to revive the Gascoyne. One of these new movers is dual-listed Benz Mining Corp (ASX:BNZ),which back in January acquired Spartan Resources' (ASX:SPR) Glenburgh gold project, mopping up a resource containing 16.3Mt at 1g/t gold for 510,000oz. With previous gold hits up to 11.6g/t and huge exploration potential over 50kms of strike within over 786km2 of underexplored terrain, BNZ has previously called it a 'transformational acquisition,' comparing the project's geological setting to the multi-million-ounce Tropicana gold discovery. BNZ kicked off maiden drilling this year reporting new hits of up to 19.9g/t gold and a high-grade wide zone of mineralisation smack bang between the Icon and Apollo deposits – indicating they could be linked. Now, BNZ has commenced a massive 30,000m program to chase the tail of this potentially continuous, large scale gold system. And keeping a slice of the pie, SPR is also now the biggest shareholder Benz, holding a 14.9% stake and participating $2m in a recent $13.5m placement to drive drilling at the project. BNZ has shown the opportunities on offer from the gold rich region, Gascoyne gold back in fashion BNZ is not the only company hunting for gold in the area. Western Yilgarn (ASX:WYX)has also pivoted to explore for the precious metal, having just secured the Gascoyne project following the acquisition of three exploration licences (E09/2986, E09/2987 and E09/2988) covering a total area of 201km2. The latest addition to the company's portfolio holds huge exploration upside over the same host rocks as the Glenburgh project, which is just 8.7km down the road. 'We are extremely pleased to secure the Gascoyne Gold Project as it provides excellent potential to delineate gold resources similar to the Benz Mining Corp, Glenburgh mineralised gold system which now expands over 50km in length," WYX non-executive director Pedro Kastellorizos said after picking up the project in early may. "The company has the same geological lithologies (Dalgaringa Supersuite metamorphic rocks) as the Glenburgh Gold Project located to the north of the current tenements. We have now commenced a geological and geophysics review for the purposes of delineating gold targets to commence ground exploration activities." The company is confident that – despite the region's strong gold potential being explored in recent decades – there remain areas that are highly underexplored and could present a substantial opportunity to host gold mineralisation. Geological and geophysics reviews are underway to define gold drill targets. It's just 300km east of Carnarvon, and delivers both geographical and commodity diversity for WYX. Western Yilgarn's priority focus has been on bauxite, the key feedstock for aluminium. Its Julimar West project north of Perth contains an inferred resource of 168.3Mt at 36.1% Al203 & 14.7% SiO2 (cut-off: ≥25% Al2O3). Location map showing the Gascoyne gold projects area with nearby gold mineral occurrences and deposits. Source: WYX Another company on the gold hunt is Dreadnought Resources (ASX:DRE), which holds the Mangaroon project in the Gascoyne, where RC drilling is underway at the Star of Mangaroon prospect. There, near-surface historical results were surprisingly not included in the November 2024 resource nor the January 2025 scoping study. The plan is to shore up additional open cuts on the granted mining leases to bolster the already robust scoping study, with the goal of producing more gold, improving mining efficiency and increasing cashflow. More precious metals than just gold? While gold is the commodity of choice in the region, don't discount other precious metals like silver. The "poor cousin" of gold has come to life in the past week after breaking a key resistance level of US$35/oz. Taruga Minerals (ASX:TAR) is one example, having recently applied for three contiguous permits (covering 385km2) in the highly prospective northern Gascoyne province, which contain numerous high grade historical workings for base and precious metals. The Thowagee tenement is especially interesting, as it features two historic polymetallic mining operations, with the Thowagee mine producing 15.2 tonnes of lead and 5878 grams of silver. Gold, copper and zinc are also present in the mineral system. Notable historic rock chip results include up to 286g/t silver, 143g/t gold, 59.3% lead and 4.35% copper. While West Coast Silver's (ASX:WCE) main game is at the Elizabeth Hill silver project in the West Pilbara, a deal that has propelled the junior to its highest share price since early 2024, WCE has a stake in the Gascoyne gold game as well via its JV with Falcon Metals (ASX:FAL) at Errabiddy, where Falcon Metals can earn a 70% stake by spending $2m on exploration. The project contains 960km2, including over 400km2 solely owned by WCE, with the company also holding 100% of the graphite rights – important given its proximity to Buxton Resources' (ASX:BUX) Graphite Bull project. At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Buxton Resources, Western Yilgarn, Spartan Resources, Taruga Minerals and West Coast Silver are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article. Originally published as Gold is back in the spotlight in WA's Gascoyne region
West Australian
10-06-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Shire of Shark Bay finishes building 12 social units for seniors, thanks to $4 million State Government grant
A $4 million State Government capital grant has been used to build a dozen social homes for seniors in the coastal Gascoyne town of Denham. The Shire of Shark Bay recently completed the 12 properties under the Shark Bay Aged Housing Project, which aims to meet the growing need for well-located, appropriate and affordable housing for seniors. The 12 one-bedroom independent living units were built by Carnarvon-based Northern Aspect Construction next to the recently established community hub. Housing and Works Minister John Carey said the units would allow current and future tenants to age at home and enjoy quality amenities and support services in Shark Bay. 'Since July 2021, our government has executed more than $200 million in capital grants contracts,' he said. 'The delivery of these homes is a great example of State and local governments working together to get a positive outcome for the community.' Overall, the State Government has invested $5.1 billion into housing and homelessness measures, adding more than 3000 social homes across WA. More than 1000 are currently under contract or construction.
ABC News
05-06-2025
- Sport
- ABC News
Long run helps strengthen ties between Burringurrah's kids and police
Children and police officers in the small community of Burringurrah were not just blowing off steam as they kicked up the red dirt around the town oval. They were forging relationships that would hopefully change lives. For the third year, officers and children in the remote community, 1,000 kilometres north of Perth in Western Australia's Gascoyne, have spent most of May running laps of their sports ground for the Run4Blue initiative. The "virtual race" is held across the country at the same time each year, with participants nominating their own distance to run. It became part of the calendar thanks to Burringurrah police officer Colin Sibson and his wife, Glenda, a teacher in the community, when they first moved to the town. "Run4Blue approached us and asked us if we would be interested in participating," Ms Sibson said. "Colin put his hand up straight away and said, 'Yes, count us in.' "We didn't know how it was going to look and then, just stage by stage, we came up with this concept of doing the virtual run." The couple also saw it as a chance to strengthen relationships within the community. "The families can see they have the kids' best interests at heart," Ms Sibson said. "I think that has stemmed on to the adults as well." Burringurrah's virtual race covers 40km, the distance from the school to Landor Race Track. Children attended a celebration camp under the stars when the milestone was reached. A Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions representative and members of the Pilbara's Australian Defence Force (ADF) Regiment joined police for the last day at Burringurrah, and during the camp. Running laps and kicking a footy was something many of the local children looked forward to each day. Stanley, 13, said he was less scared of police than he used to be. "We didn't know them at first," he said. "Then the more we did [sports] with them, we started getting used to them." Senior Sergeant Sibson said building relationships with the children was immeasurably helpful. "It's just been a really good way to talk to the school, get to know what the kids are talking about, get to know what their parents are dealing with," he said. Sergeant Robert Brock, who led the defence force personnel involved in the camp, said the soldiers and children found the experience inspiring. "We're keen to keep that relationship going," he said. "Who knows? Maybe in the future one of them might want to join the army, but if not, we've just got a whole bunch more friends out here." It was not just the children who benefited. At the camp, Burringurrah man Stanley Hill and Sergeant Brock had a laugh and a catch-up. Mr Hill said he took pride in supporting others in the community. "Maybe you carry out hunting together and laugh together," he said. Sergeant Brock said relationships with the Burringurrah community helped the ADF do its job better. "You can learn lots of things about bush tucker from a book, but going out on country with people who intimately know those things, it was just so good," he said. "It helps us relate to people and relate to country. "There was another dimension to the landscape as well, because they're telling us about the dreaming story behind Mount Augustus itself."
ABC News
27-05-2025
- General
- ABC News
Stolen Generations survivor Kath Ryan reflects on her life after WA redress scheme announced
More than 60 years ago, Stolen Generations survivor Kath Ryan was pulled screaming from her mother in Western Australia's Gascoyne region. WARNING: This story contains details that may be distressing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers. At just seven years old, she became one of thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in Australia taken from their families. Years later, her own daughter was taken from her. But in the years since, she has reconnected with her family, graduated university and is proud to be a grandparent. On Tuesday, the WA government announced Stolen Generations survivors would be eligible for payments of up to $85,000 as part of a landmark redress scheme. It leaves just Queensland as the only state or territory without a compensation scheme for survivors. Ms Ryan, a 72-year-old Yinggarda elder, was at the steps of WA's Parliament House when the announcement was made. "It's wonderful. I cried when [Noongar traditional custodian] Jim Morrison told us," she said. Ms Ryan was born in Carnarvon in 1953, her skin much lighter than her single mother's. It put authorities on alert, with Ms Ryan's hardworking mother always on the move to evade welfare officials. When they eventually caught up to her, she was powerless to act when a seven-year-old Ms Ryan was shoved into a paddy wagon and taken away. "I was screaming and kicking and stuff like that. I saw my mum walking off and she didn't look back," she said. "The penalty was back in the day if you kicked up and carried on, you would be thrown in jail." Ms Ryan was placed in a Church of Christ mission in Carnarvon, where she spent her days carrying out domestic tasks and looking after the younger children. When she was about 12 years old, she was sent to live with a family in the affluent Perth suburb of Cottesloe. She said the prospect of going to a big city was exciting, and she went to a private school where she worked hard. But she felt keenly the absence of her family and other children who looked like her. During this time, she fell pregnant and was sent to a home for women and babies. But as soon as her daughter was born, she was taken from Ms Ryan. "I had no choice in the matter," she said. Ms Ryan went on to have six other children, whom she vowed to keep close. "No way was I going to let those other six go," she said. Ms Ryan returned to Carnarvon in her 20s but received a shock when she was ostracised by her family. "It's sort of like … as we say in our language, 'you've been living with Wadjela people, you've got to live that life now'," she said. But she persisted in rebuilding a relationship with her mother, whom she only spent a combined nine years with before her death in her 90s. As well as taking away precious time with her family, her experience as a Stolen Generations survivor also made Ms Ryan doubt her intellectual abilities. It was not until a friend convinced her otherwise when she was in her mid-30s that she pursued a university education, graduating with a degree in community health. Her granddaughter is now following in her footsteps and is pursuing a law degree. "It makes me so proud," she said. Now retired, Ms Ryan enjoys spending time with her grandchildren and other Stolen Generations survivors. But she said she feels deeply the loss of other survivors who died before the announcement of redress this week. "It was great to hear it, but a great sadness as well, because the Aboriginal people don't have a good life span. I'm fortunate, I never in my wildest dreams thought I'd reach 60, let alone 72," she said. "For the unfortunate ones that have passed … it's a little bit too late." For some time, Ms Ryan wanted to keep her story close out of feelings of shame. But she said the time for silence had long passed. "People need to know that these things happened," she said. "With this truth-telling and stuff like that, hopefully we'll make a lot of people realise these things are true, they're not just made up." The state government estimates there to be between 2,500 and 3,000 survivors of the Stolen Generations in WA. Registrations for the redress scheme are expected to open later this year, with payments to follow towards the end of the year.
