Pilbara gold hopeful Marindi Metals announced it was looking to stake out more dirt that could hold conglomerate gold — and its shares promptly jumped 54 per cent.

A gold nugget rush in the Pilbara region of north Western Australia has been a boon for ASX-listed gold explorers, with share prices rising as much as ten times for some stocks.

Marindi (ASX:MZN) finished 54 per cent higher at 1.7c on Friday after reaching an intraday high of 1.8c. Some 136 million shares changing hands.

Marindi has secured a 45-day option to assess an exploration licence application called Bellary Dome project near Paraburdoo on the Pilbara Basin’s southern edge.

The tenement includes a 25km strike of the Mt Roe Basalt where it overlies the Bellary Formation.

The Bellary Formation is the lowermost unit of the Fortescue Group. Mt Roe Basalt is a volcanic rock formation in the Pilbara’s Fortescue Basin which is known to host conglomerate gold and lithium.

Marindi believes the tenement contains historically mapped and sampled gold-bearing conglomerates in a similar setting and position to Artemis Resources and Novo Resources’  Purdy’s Reward discovery.

The Pilbara gold nugget rush can be traced to July 13 when Artemis (ASX:ARV) and Canadian joint venture partner Novo Resources made a now legendary announcement regarding a gold nugget find at the Purdy’s Reward site south of Karratha, WA.

Marindi managing director Joe Treacy said the results from Purdy’s Reward were unlike anything he’d seen in his “40-plus years as a geologist”.

Mr Treacy is talking up the Bellary Dome as a significant exploration opportunity given similarities with Purdy’s Reward.

The gold-bearing conglomerate has been previously worked for alluvial gold, returning gold values up to 22 grams per tonne.

Marindi paid private prospecting firm Bacome $100,000 and issued 10 million Marindi shares to secure the option. Bacome is associated with highly-experienced geologist Joshua Pitt who is a director of Hampton Hill Mining, Traka Resources and Red Hill Iron.

The deal is due to be finalised in four weeks.

Marindi owns ground prospective for conglomerate-hosted gold at the nearby Newman project.

A recent field visit of Newman — 400km south-east of Karratha — confirmed conglomerate rocks within the Hardey Formation.

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