Hamelin Gold (ASX: HMG) is set to commence drilling on the company’s gold project in the Tanami region of Western Australia. Managing director Peter Bewick spoke with Wally Graham on Day Two of the 2025 RIU Sydney Resources Roundup.
THE DRILL SERGEANT: Hamelin Gold (ASX: HMG) has defined new gold targets at the company’s West Tanami and the Anderson project in Western Australia.
Hamelin Gold identified the targets via recently completed soil sampling programs at the project utilising the application of the Ultrafine® (UFF) analytical technology.
The company identified a coincident gold and multi-element pathfinder anomaly, the Jazz prospect, on the limb of a tightly folded antiform to the west of the Sultan gold targets in the West Tanami.
Aircore drilling of Jazz has commenced with 60 holes planned to test the core of the new anomaly as well as other areas of interest highlighted in the UFF survey.
Other work included roadside soil sampling and UFF analysis at Company’s Anderson project in the wheatbelt that defined an area of gold anomalism extending over eight kilometres in strike with a maximum point value of 0.17 grams per tonne gold.
“The expansion of the use of soil sampling and Ultrafine® analysis across the West Tanami and our sand covered Yilgarn projects in WA is proving to be successful at defining areas of gold anomalism in previously under-explored regions,” Hamelin Gold managing director Peter Bewick said in the company’s ASX announcement.
“The recently defined Jazz anomaly in the West Tanami occurs where two key structures intersect and is hosted within a highly prospective dolerite unit.
“Jazz has strong multi-element support and has the geochemical footprint similar to other major gold deposits in the Tanami region.
“Aircore drilling at Jazz has just commenced with assay results expected in December 2024.”
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THE CONFERENCE CALLER: Greenfields explorer Hamelin Gold (ASX: HMG) is hopeful of making the next major discovery in Australia’s elusive Tanami province. By Kristie Batten
Hamelin Gold’s 3500 square kilometres of ground makes it the dominant landholder on the Western Australian side of the Tanami.
Its ground sits directly along strike from Newmont Corporation’s 20 million ounce Callie mine, part of the world-class Tanami operations.
“It’s odd in an orogenic belt to have such a giant and not a string of 2-5 million ounce deposits within the same province and that’s the sort of scale opportunity we believe that Hamelin Gold has,” managing director Peter Bewick told the RIU Explorers Conference in Fremantle last week.
The reason, Bewick suggested, that another giant had not yet been found, as due to there being little to no outcrop in the region and extensive sand cover.
“You could hide pretty well anything under there,” he said.
“Given Callie has such a small footprint, we think there’s ample opportunity to hide a few Callies in 3500 square kilometres.”
Bewick said exploration is in Hamelin’s DNA.
Given the difficulty and expense of exploring in the Tanami, Bewick acknowledged the company had to be good at prediction and detection.
“Without going broke drilling holes all over the place,” he added.
The company has turned to technology to assist.
Use of CSIRO’s “groundbreaking” Ultrafine soils technology has already yielded results, identifying two large soil anomalies in the Sultan gold corridor.
Initial drilling returned an “outstanding” 7.6m at 3.2 grams per tonne from 326.2m, including 1.1m at 15.9g/t gold.
“One thing we generated was a beautiful 1km gold anomaly under sand cover with a 700m-long bedrock gold anomaly underneath,” Bewick said.
“We’re super excited to get an RC rig out here.
“This is the sort of footprint that could be sitting over a major gold system.”
However, it’s not the gold potential that caught the eye of the world’s largest miner.
Hamelin drilled a hole into a “rather weird-looking magnetic anomaly” called Hawkeye.
“What we got was not what we expected,” Bewick said.
The hole hit magmatic nickel-copper sulphides.
“It’s the first time this style of mineralisation has been identified in the Tanami,” said Bewick.
It was that result which prompted Hamelin to apply for BHP’s exploration accelerator Xplor.
Last month Hamelin found out it was one of six successful applicants out of a total of 529 companies and prospectors who applied.
As part of the program, Hamelin will receive up to US$500,000 of non-dilutive funding from BHP and receive mentoring and technical support.
There’s also the potential for additional investment and partnerships down the road.
“We’re pretty excited they’re excited,” Bewick said.
“If it’s of interest to BHP, it could be fascinating for our shareholders.”
Hamelin is well-placed for a junior explorer. Aside from the interest from BHP, global major Gold Fields and ASX 200 producer Silver Lake Resources each hold 15 per cent of the company.
Hamelin’s current market capitalisation of $11.9 million and healthy cash balance of $5.2 million (at December 31), gives it an enterprise value of just $6.7 million.
