Gold hopeful Kairos Minerals will kick off a maiden exploration program next week after confirming gold at its Pilbara portfolio.

Today’s news caps off a remarkable week for the stock (ASX:KAI) which soared as much as 187 per cent to a 52-week high of 8.9c on Thursday, making it one of the biggest movers on the ASX. On Friday afternoon the stock was trading at 7.4c, up 138 per cent for the week.

The Pilbara region, previously synonymous with iron ore mining, is hosting a mini gold rush as investors pile in to juniors on the hunt for the next precious metal find.

Impact Minerals (ASX:IPT), which is applying for nine new exploration licences in the Pilbara, was one of the best performing ASX stocks on Thursday, surging as much as 85 per cent to 2.5c.

A day earlier, De Grey Mining (ASX:DEG) shares jumped from 11.5c to 16c after it showed off a batch of nuggets from its Pilbara project, Loudens Patch.

Kairos Minerals recently reviewed its Pilbara tenements, confirming prospects for a “Witwatersrand-style” conglomerate-hosted gold mineralisation.

Conglomerate gold in the Pilbara is all the rage at the moment with companies recovering conglomerate-hosted gold nuggets on the surface including De Grey Mining, TSX-listed Novo Resources and Artemis Resources (ASX:ARV) at Purdy’s Reward.

The positive review spurred Kairos to get its exploration team to the site pronto to begin soil and stream sediment sampling and prospecting across a 100 km strike length at its Mount Roe Basalt – claimed to be the key to the recent new conglomerate gold discoveries in the region.

Exploration will focus initially on the Croydon prospect where Kairos says it has recently mapped thick sequences of lower Fortescue Group rocks including the Mount Roe Basalt.

Initial results are expected within the next three to four weeks.

Kairos, which has a market cap of about $42 million, recently raised $1.7 million to fund exploration work over its Pilbara tenement portfolio.