Croydon Drilling: Can CZR Unlock Gold Potential After Five Years’ Pause?

Heritage Clearance Unlocks Drilling at Croydon

CZR Resources Ltd (ASX – CZR) is poised to restart major exploration activities at its Croydon gold project, located approximately 50 kilometres southwest of the prolific Hemi gold deposit in Western Australia’s Pilbara region. The company has received the necessary heritage clearance, clearing the way for an expanded reverse circulation (RC) drilling program targeting the Top Camp and Bottom Camp prospects.

This marks CZR’s first significant drilling campaign at Croydon in five years, following a period of focus on its Robe Mesa iron ore asset, which was recently sold for $75 million in cash. With a strong balance sheet of $76 million as of September 30, CZR is fully funded to execute its exploration plans.

Targeting Extensions and New Intrusive Systems

Previous drilling at Top Camp, conducted in 2019-20, revealed promising epithermal-style gold mineralisation within the Mallina Basin sediments, including notable intersections such as 27 metres at 3.2 grams per tonne gold, with an 8-metre section grading 10 grams per tonne. The upcoming 6,000-metre RC program aims to extend and infill this mineralisation along a 1-kilometre geochemical anomaly, while also testing for the presence of Hemi-style intrusive-related gold systems beneath the known zones.

Bottom Camp, situated 6 kilometres north of Top Camp, will undergo a 3,000-metre RC drilling program to infill wide-spaced drilling and extend the strike length to nearly 1 kilometre. The program will also explore potential extensions to the west, where strong gold-arsenic geochemical signatures have been identified but terrain challenges have previously limited drilling.

New Targets Emerging in Eastern Block

Beyond Top and Bottom Camp, CZR has completed a first-pass aircore and surface geochemistry program across the Eastern Block of the Croydon project. This work has identified several new gold anomalies, including high-grade rock chip samples with significant copper, silver, zinc, and gold values, some of which date back to 2018 but were not previously followed up due to the company’s iron ore focus.

Follow-up RC and additional aircore drilling are planned to test these targets, particularly around diorite intrusions and mafic-ultramafic sequences that bear resemblance to the geological setting of the nearby Hemi deposit. The company is placing renewed emphasis on structural and lithological traps that could host substantial gold mineralisation.

Strategic Timing and Market Position

Managing Director Stefan Murphy highlighted the strategic timing of this drilling campaign, noting that the earlier exploration predated the Hemi discovery and did not test for major intrusive-related systems. With the recent sale of the Robe Mesa iron ore asset, CZR is now able to fully concentrate on unlocking Croydon’s gold potential.

The drilling program is expected to commence shortly, subject to rig availability, and continue through the end of 2025 with plans to resume in 2026. Assay results from this campaign will be critical in defining the scale and grade of mineralisation and guiding subsequent exploration efforts.