Laconia lines up Pilbara portfolio
A lot of junior resources companies claim to be flying under the market radar but there are times when you actually have to ask if that radar is really turned on.
One case in point is Perth-based base metals explorer Laconia Resources.
Having listed in 2009 Laconia has put together an impressive portfolio of advanced gold and base metals projects across 35 granted tenements covering a total of just under 1000 square kilometres.
These projects are all located within, or close to, historic mining regions of Western Australia including Kalgoorlie, the Murchison and the Pilbara.
The company’s most recent addition, and its major focus, is a 95% interest in the Lennons Find base metals project acquisition from Jabiru Metals.
“We think it has been a good deal that we have completed with Jabiru Metals,” Laconia Resources managing director Ian Stuart told The Inside Story.
“They are currently more interested in concentrating on projects they have further south, which is entirely understandable, but they were still keen to see a concise exploration package carried out on this ground, which is now what we also want to do.”
Not only did Lennons Find extend Laconia’s land holding in the Pilbara it also came with a JORC compliant Inferred Resource of 853,000 tonnes grading 7.7% zinc, 1.8% lead, 0.7% copper and 115 grams per tonne silver at what is known as the Hammerhead sulphide zone with mineralisation open down dip and along strike.
“The Lennons Find acquisition was an all-scrip deal, we paid ten million shares, so we preserved our cash,” Stuart said.
“The significant aspect to the deal is that we haven’t blown out our capital structure.
“We sit here with a new project acquisition, complete with a JORC compliant Inferred Resource, some 80 million shares on issue and, as at the last quarter, $2.8 million in cash.”
Laconia has already begun putting that money to good work at Lennons Find with a recent review of the resource model indicating significant silver mineralisation, near surface.
“The high silver is significant, even with the silver price slipping lately, because when you factor in current commodity prices the grade comes out at 16% zinc equivalent,” Stuart explained.
Precious metals are commonly associated with VHMS deposits and it is reasonable for gold mineralisation to be associated with the assemblage of zinc/copper/lead/silver found at the Lennons Find project.
Gold values are not included in the resource calculation so far ; however the company willsystematically incorporate this into the assay suite in any new drilling it conducts.
“The thing about VMS deposits is that they commonly occur in clusters,” Stuart said.
“There are five prospects on this project, of which only one has undergone sufficient drilling in order to define a Resource.
“Now we are incorporating that data in order to put together a model we can then take up there and drill more targets in order to build on the current Inferred Resource.
“Our first strategy is to drill what we already have. We have a Resource so we want to do some further drilling on that in order to increase the tonnes there.”
As part of its systematic review of Lennons Find historical data, Laconia initiated a state-of-the-art, fixed-loop electromagnetic survey, using 100m line spacing, covering 5km of mineralisation.
Laconia aims to incorporate this data when it comes to identifying new drill targets in order to further define and delineate the current resource base.
The current historically high price for precious metals is providing the company with the impetus to advance Lennons Find as quickly as possible.
“The Lennons Find project has been around for quite some years; however, the exploration effort there to date has been somewhat disjointed,” Stuart said.
“Jabiru Metals is probably the most recent player to have put any reasonable effort into it.
“It is worth noting that they now hold twelve per cent of our stock so it is in their interest also that we actually get stuck in and put a concerted exploration effort into it.”
The company has planned a shallow Reverse Circulation drilling program in June, to define the extent of mineralisation.
This will be carried out in conjunction with further resource definition drilling on the current Resource at Lennons Find.
“We consider this to be an advanced exploration play,” Stuart said.
“We do have a Resource, which is good place to start from, but we need more tonnes and we are highly confident that we can go out and get them.”
Shrewd acquisitions seem to be part of the Laconia mantra with another recent purchase, the nearby Yandicoogina project, also displaying encouraging prospects.
Yandicoogina was another all-scrip acquisition, this time for just 1.7 million shares, from Shaw River Resources and is less than 10km southwest along strike from the Lennons Find massive sulphide resource.
Shaw River carried out a rock chipping sampling program in November 2010, collecting over 120 samples that were analysed for a suite of precious and base metals.
These efforts confirmed the prospectivity of the Duffer Formation, which hosts both Yandicoogina and Lennons Find, to contain significant base metal and precious metal mineralisation.
Further north Laconia is keeping a very close eye on developments at its 100% owned Barramine gold and base metals project.
Geophysical data and interpretation from Barramine has indicated a number of electromagnetic (EM) anomalies.
Laconia carried out further evaluation of these geophysical anomalies via a preliminary geochemical orientation survey with the preliminary data.
Sampling focused over EM anomalies provided strong encouragement for base metal mineralisation in this area.
“We have had some really good exploration success at Barramine over the past twelve months,” Stuart said.
“We have been able to successfully move Barramine from being something with very little work having been conducted over it, to an exploration project that has undergone an EM survey, good geological mapping and geochemical sampling.
“As a result we now have a number of drill targets identified there.”
With the combination of the Lennons Find, Yandicoogina and Barramine projects, along with the Rare Earth Elements potential of the 701 Mile project it is probably fair to say Laconia has a well sharpened Pilbara focus.
The company has a full understanding of the deposit styles synonymous with the region with the deals it struck with Jabiru Metals and Shaw River Resources easily demonstrating that understanding.
“We have a Joint Venture with Shaw River Resources on the Barramine project. They hold the manganese and iron ore rights so we have a close relationship with those guys,” Stuart said.
“In constructing the deal with Jabiru Metals, it was a logical deal for us to pursue. We were looking for something with earlier exploration. It came with a Resource and we are happy to be taking it that next step.”
Laconia Resources Limited (LCR)
…The Short Story
HEAD OFFICE
Level 1, 41 – 43 Ord Street
West Perth WA 6005
Ph: +61 8 9486 1599
Fax: +61 8 9486 7899
Email: info@laconia.com.au
Web: www.laconia.com.au
DIRECTORS
Michael Sharwood
Ian Stuart
Matthew Howison
MAJOR SHAREHOLDERS
Pandell Pty Ltd 12.32%
Jabiru Metals Ltd 12.21%
Oakover Gold Ltd 6.10%
SHARES ON OFFER
81.92 Million (11.5 million escrowed)