The Next Wave of Discovery In Western Australia’s Pilbara Region
As Catalina Resources’ first district-scale footprint in the Pilbara, the Beasley Creek Gold Project creates a complementary growth hub to our Yilgarn and Laverton portfolios.
The Project is highly prospective for gold, offering two clear discovery pathways – shearhosted orogenic gold and conglomerate-style gold along a 16km unconformity – neither of which have been systematically drill-tested in more than two decades.
The exploration strategy is to define structurally controlled gold targets within the older Archean sequences, previously explored by Castle Minerals.
Priority targets include the sheared granite – greenstone contact and the ‘Paulsen Gold Mine’ – style mineralisation associated with gabbo/ dolerite intrusions in the north of the project.
Located in Western Australia’s Pilbara Craton
Tenement ID: E 47/3490
15km north of Rocklea, 35km west of Tom Price and 52km north-west of Paraburdoo / ~60 km west of Tom Price and ~80 km from Paulsens Gold Operation
Favourable Geology for Near-Term Growth
The project’s favourable geological setting bodes well for near-term growth. The Rocklea Dome has ancient Archean and later intrusions, and a bedrock geology of monzogranite and mafic / ultramafic bodies.
It features two distinct styles of gold potential:
- A structurally controlled ‘orogenic’ gold hosted in Archean greenstones, quartz veins and shear zones show strong anomalism.
- Conglomerate-style gold along the Hardey Formation unconformity, a 16 km corridor where coarse sediments have the potential to trap and concentrate gold at surface contacts.
The project comes with a complete, comprehensive dataset, and proximity to established operations, providing low-cost optionality for development, and the potential to accelerate value creation.
1:500,000 Geology
Strong Historic Exploration Results Optimistic Future Drilling Program
Historic RC drilling, which intersected grades of up to 4 m @ 11.5 g/t Au (RRC15), revealed multiple additional anomalous results in soils, streams and rock chips.
Despite such strong anomalism shows and evidence of fertility, no systematic drilling has been completed since the late 1990s.
However, a comprehensive data room with more than 1,300 soil, stream and rock chip samples, reprocessed 2,323 line-km aeromagnetic/radiometric survey works, and detailed mapping provides Catalina Resources with immediate leverage for reinterpretation and rapid targeting.
Former owners Castle Minerals conducted a specialist geochemical review of a 2020 stream sediment sampling program, which defined four distinct zones of strong gold anomalism associated with these, and four different geological settings.
This highlighted four high-priority gold and lithium anomalies for rapid field verification and drilling.
23 other lower-order stream sediment and soil anomalies, including for base metals, have been delineated for follow-up.
Two of the priority gold targets fall within a structurally bound, northwest trending anomalous corridor in the centre of the licence. They comprise a consistently anomalous 600m zone with associated copper anomalism and a smaller anomalous gold zone with a multi-element association of silver, bismuth, nickel, platinum and palladium. Sample values peaked at 137ppb Au and 1010ppm Cu.
While lithium and the anomalous associated pathfinder elements identified were not an exploration target, their elevated values offer an additional dimension to its exploration in the region.
Together, these models provide multiple pathways to discovery in a proven Pilbara setting, with lithium anomalism as optional upside.
Future Steps for Beasley Creek
The immediate priority is to review historical data to refine and rank targets, before moving into exploration drilling.
The initial program will be determined by assay results to gain a baseline understanding of the project. The data review will inform drill program design, scale and target areas.
Future steps at Beasley Creek will be determined by outcomes of initial drilling program.
The Beasley Creek Gold Project aligns with Catalina’s “under-explored belts” focus, mirroring its recent acquisition of the Yerilgee and Evanston greenstone belts to consolidate and advance prospective ground.
Committed to responsible exploration, project development, and delivering sustainable value for shareholders and stakeholders, this project represents vast exploration potential, given its location within the success of broader districts.
“The Beasley Creek Project is an ideal fit with Catalina’s under-explored belts focus. Mirroring our Yerilgee and Evanston greenstone belt acquisitions, it reinforces an approach of consolidating prospective ground and advancing it quickly. It displays all the growth-centric characteristics we look for in an early-stage asset: clear geological rationale, defined anomalies, limited modern drilling; meaning plenty of scope for rapid, value-adding work.” – Executive Director Ross Cotton