Great Western Uncovers New Copper-Gold Targets at Yerrida North Ahead of Drilling

Exploration Momentum Builds at Yerrida North

Great Western Exploration (ASX, GTE) has announced a significant expansion of its copper-gold exploration footprint at the Yerrida North Project in Western Australia. The company has identified several additional highly prospective target areas interpreted to represent volcanic hosted massive sulphide (VHMS) systems, akin to the nearby DeGrussa and Monty copper-gold deposits. This development follows extensive data analysis and fieldwork leveraging a rich dataset originally compiled by Sandfire Resources during their joint venture with Great Western.

Geological Insights and Target Identification

The newly defined targets are primarily located along the margins of the Yerrida Basin, approximately 30 to 60 kilometres from DeGrussa. These zones exhibit subtle copper-gold anomalies and align with structural and geophysical features indicative of mineralisation fluid pathways. Great Western’s interpretation suggests these areas contain sub-basins that could act as traps for copper-gold mineralisation, not only of the VHMS style but also sediment hosted copper deposits (SHCD), a style known for hosting large copper resources globally.

Advancing Towards Drilling

Following the identification of these targets, Great Western is progressing with detailed surface sampling and geological mapping to refine drill locations. Access approvals for drilling at the Oval and Juggernaut targets are underway, although heritage clearance delays have pushed the expected survey completion to early November 2025. Despite an unsuccessful application for government co-funding under the Western Australian Exploration Incentive Scheme, Great Western has committed to fully funding the upcoming drilling program, underscoring its confidence in the project’s potential.

Strategic Positioning and Future Outlook

With the Yerrida North Project now wholly owned, Great Western is well positioned to control the exploration strategy and capital allocation. The company’s large landholding in a historically underexplored but highly prospective region offers significant leverage to exploration success. The upcoming drilling campaign will be a critical test of the interpreted targets and could unlock substantial value if the mineralisation proves analogous to the world-class deposits nearby.

Investors and industry watchers will be keenly awaiting the results of the heritage surveys and the commencement of drilling, which will provide the first direct evidence of the project’s copper-gold potential.