Norwest Minerals dusts off Shiraz prospect at Marymia East after historical drilling review

• Norwest Minerals identifies promising gold targets at Marymia East through review of 1990s drilling data
• Shiraz prospect returned 6m hit at 4.2g/t gold in 1996 but was not followed up at that time
• Company interpreting AEM survey to assist with targeting for Phase 2 drilling starting in mid-October

Special Report: Norwest Minerals’ comprehensive review of historical drilling carried out at its Marymia East project in WA’s Mid-West region during the early to mid-1990s has identified several compelling gold targets.

The 230km2 project is less than 10km southeast of the flagship Bulgera gold project and is prospective for gold and base metal mineralisation.

It’s transected by the Jenkins fault, a regional structure associated with the major Degrussa copper-gold project located 60km to the southwest, and covers the Baumgarten Greenstone block where gold prospects have been identified and drill tested by past explorers.

A review of previous exploration by Norwest Minerals (ASX:NWM) has now uncovered several promising gold zones with the Shiraz prospect that was last drilled in 1996 being a notable standout.

Shiraz is defined by a flat-lying, near-surface mineralised saprolite zone.

A 356m deep step-back diamond hole drilled in 1996 returned a 6m intersection grading 4.2g/t gold about 215m directly below the saprolite zone that is suspected to be the source of surface mineralisation.

However, the result was never followed up, likely due to the low gold price of $370/oz at that time.

Chief executive officer Charles Schaus said the company was particularly excited by the Shiraz prospect and has completed a heritage survey over the area ahead of planned drilling.

“The company has also completed data acquisition of the 1,320 line-kilometre AEM SkyTEM survey over the Marymia East ground holding,” he added.

“The data processing is complete with the interpretation and target generation by Southern Geoscience Consultants due for reporting mid-October.”

Survey and plan ahead

The high-resolution SkyTEM airborne electromagnetic survey over the project was carried out to follow up on previously identified gold prospects associated with the Baumgartens Greenstone Belt (BGB) as well as enhance base metal anomalies identified in the northern parts of the tenure near the Jenkins fault.

While the survey does not directly detect gold, it’s crucial for identifying geological features and associated minerals that are conductive and commonly found with gold deposits.

Interpretation of data from the survey is now underway and will be available in early October 2025.

This will assist in planning for the Phase 2 drill program to be carried out within the BGB from mid-October.

Phase 2 drilling will include four reverse circulation holes to test the updip and along strike continuation of the gold intersection at the Shiraz prospect.

This article was developed in collaboration with Norwest Minerals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.