Approvals Underway as West Cobar Eyes Major Gold Discoveries in Fraser Range

Exploration Momentum Builds at Mystique

West Cobar Metals Ltd (ASX – WC1) is advancing its Mystique Gold Project with a planned air core drilling campaign designed to test promising gold mineralisation beneath transported cover in Western Australia’s Fraser Range Province. The company has formally commenced the necessary approvals process, including heritage consultations and regulatory submissions, aiming to begin drilling in the third quarter of 2025.

The campaign will comprise approximately 70 air core drill holes totalling around 5,000 metres, focusing on two primary objectives – extending known saprolite-hosted gold mineralisation and defining significant gold targets within basement rocks. This dual approach reflects the project’s potential to host both shallow and deeper gold deposits.

Backing from Nearby High-Grade Discoveries

Confidence in the Mystique Project is underpinned by exceptional gold intercepts reported just 250 metres north of the tenement boundary at the Themis Prospect, operated by Rumble Resources Limited. Noteworthy intersections include 25 metres at 2.42 grams per tonne gold, with a high-grade 5-metre section averaging 10.85 grams per tonne, and another intercept of 16 metres at 6.69 grams per tonne, including 4 metres at a remarkable 22.2 grams per tonne. These results strongly suggest a significant basement gold source that may extend into West Cobar’s tenement.

Strategic Acquisition and Historical Data

West Cobar’s recent acquisition of IGO Limited’s 100% interest in exploration licence E28/2513 consolidates control over a 35-square-kilometre area within the Albany-Fraser Province, a region with a history of gold and mineral sands exploration. Previous work by multiple parties, including IGO and Homestake Gold, has generated a valuable dataset of geophysics and drilling results, enabling West Cobar to prioritise high-potential targets for immediate follow-up.

Despite the extensive transported cover masking surface geology, historical air core drilling has revealed widespread gold anomalism in saprolite and transported sediments, particularly at the Torquata Prospect, where a large calcrete gold anomaly exceeds 10 parts per billion over a 3.5 by 2-kilometre area. This anomaly, combined with structural interpretations from aeromagnetic data, guides the upcoming drilling program.

Next Steps and Exploration Outlook

Following the air core program, West Cobar plans to undertake reverse circulation drilling to test bedrock targets identified from initial results and geophysical surveys. The company’s Managing Director, Matt Szwedzicki, emphasised the immediate potential for both shallow and basement-hosted gold deposits, highlighting the strategic importance of the project within West Cobar’s broader portfolio, which includes copper, antimony, and critical minerals projects.

While true widths of mineralisation remain uncertain at this early stage, the combination of historical data, nearby high-grade intercepts, and a well-defined structural corridor presents a compelling case for further exploration. The upcoming drilling campaign will be a critical step in delineating the extent and grade of gold mineralisation, potentially setting the stage for resource definition and development.