Pilbara gold explorer Calidus Resources has inked a $3.5 million binding deal to sell its non-core conglomerate gold rights to Canada’s Pacton Gold.

Pacton, which is backed by Canadian billionaire investor Eric Sprott, has been doing deals with ASX-listed companies to build its portfolio of Pilbara conglomerate gold projects.

The company controls one of the largest conglomerate-hosted gold landholdings in the Pilbara, with tenements spanning some 2850 sq km.

Conglomerate gold refers to nuggets hosted in rock containing rounded grey quartz pebbles and other minerals.

The Pilbara has become a hot spot for this style of gold, ever since Artemis Resources (ASX:ARV) and its Canadian partner Novo Resources uncovered what they called “watermelon seed nuggets” on their project south of Karratha last year.

Calidus (ASX:CAI) is selling the conglomerate gold rights over eight tenements within its Warrawoona landholding in Western Australia’s Pilbara region for 7 million Pacton shares.

The company, however, will still own the tenements and the rights to the shear-hosted/basement gold.

Shear-hosted gold is a more conventional style of gold that already has a proven method of mining and processing.

Conglomerate gold, however, is still a work in progress, with explorers trying to work out exactly how they will mine and process it.

“This transaction allows us to fully focus on the development of our conventional shear-hosted deposit where we currently have two drill rigs turning whilst maintaining exposure to the conglomerate gold space which is seeing a lot of time and money invested in it,” Calidus managing director Dave Reeves told investors this morning.

Pacton recently formed an alliance with Artemis to investigate the possibility of processing its conglomerate and shear-hosted gold through Artemis’ Radio Hill plant.

Artemis recently received approval to initially process 500,000 tonnes each year of gold ore at Radio Hill, but that will eventually be expanded to 1 million tonnes per annum.
Pacton has also previously struck deals with Clancy Exploration (ASX:CLY) and Marindi Metals (ASX:MZN) for their conglomerate gold projects — though the deal with Marindi didn’t go ahead.

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