Cosmo Metals is moving towards maiden drilling at its high-grade Mona copper-gold-silver prospect while new results outline broad gold mineralisation at Kanowna in Western Australia. The exploration momentum comes with a funding constraint: cash at quarter end covered only 0.71 quarters of reported outgoings before a post-quarter placement tranche was received.
- Up to eight RC holes planned at Mona for approximately 2,200 metres
- Kanowna drilling returned broad gold zones at Laguna Verde and Adder
- Plunkett and Cassidy antimony soil sampling completed across 2km
- $1.25 million two-tranche placement completed, with $917,762 raised after quarter end
- Quarter-end cash of $319,000 equated to 0.71 quarters of funding
Mona drilling moves from approval to mobilisation
Cosmo Metals Ltd (ASX:CMO) is approaching a useful exploration test at Mona: the first drilling into a copper-gold-silver prospect where historic mine dump samples returned up to 4.93% copper, 11.65g/t gold and 204g/t silver. During the September quarter, the company secured NSW Resources Regulator approval and executed a contract with Durock Drilling for up to eight reverse-circulation holes covering approximately 2,200 metres.
The campaign will test the mapped copper-rich VMS lode beneath the historic workings and extend into a potential gold-silver feeder zone. The planned program follows Cosmo’s maiden Mona drilling campaign, which was previously described as a test of whether the mine dump grades continued below the old workings. Cosmo expects downhole electromagnetic work to follow the initial drilling, although the company has not yet reported drilling results from Mona.
Kanowna drilling outlines broad gold systems
At the Kanowna Gold Project near Kalgoorlie, assay results from the previous quarter’s diamond drilling extended the geological picture at Laguna Verde and Adder. The WA Government EIS co-funded hole at Laguna Verde returned 14 metres at 0.48g/t gold from 44 metres, including one metre at 1.17g/t, while a prior hole about 150 metres down dip had returned 16 metres at 0.46g/t.
At Adder, hole ADRD003 returned a combined 31.1-metre mineralised interval at 0.33g/t gold from 189.9 metres, including separate intervals of 15.1 metres at 0.35g/t and 12 metres at 0.35g/t. The result sits about 100 metres down dip from an earlier 29-metre intersection at 0.48g/t, with the broader zone remaining untested for at least 1.5 kilometres along strike. These are downhole widths, however, and true widths are not known.
Drilling at Don Alvaro also extended anomalous mineralisation west-northwest of earlier high-grade intersections. One hole returned 12 metres at 0.79g/t gold from 30 metres, including two metres at 3.72g/t, while a second hole returned 11.3 metres at 0.17g/t from 110 metres. Cosmo said geological modelling will be used to assess follow-up work, including across the largely untested 23-kilometre strike of the prospective Kanowna Shear.
Antimony and copper targets broaden the NSW pipeline
Cosmo completed a 380-sample auger soil program across a 2km strike length at the Plunkett and Cassidy prospect within the more than 8km Antimony Gully Trend. Laboratory results from selected samples are still pending and are intended to help define targets for drill testing. Earlier surface work had returned results of up to 10.3% antimony and 5.37% antimony trioxide, but those surface results do not establish the grade or continuity of mineralisation at depth.
The company also received the Carters Road exploration licence during the quarter, expanding its New England Orogen portfolio. Reconnaissance work had produced a 4.69% copper and 5.78g/t silver result from a single grab sample associated with a Tonalite intrusion. As with other selective rock-chip results in the portfolio, the sample is an exploration lead rather than evidence of a defined deposit.
Placement improves funding, but runway remains tight
Cosmo raised $332,238 from the first tranche of its placement during the quarter and issued the second tranche after quarter end, raising a further $917,762 before costs. The combined $1.25 million raise included participation from Managing Director Ian Prentice and major shareholder Great Boulder Resources (ASX:GBR), while 20 million options exercisable at $0.0053 were issued to lead managers as part consideration for brokerage services.
That capital is important because Cosmo ended September with $319,000 in cash after spending $326,000 on exploration and recording $122,000 of net operating cash outflows. On the company’s reported calculation, available funding represented 0.71 quarters of outgoings at quarter end. Cosmo said it expects to continue operations and meet its objectives on the basis of future successful capital raisings, leaving the timing and terms of subsequent funding a material part of the exploration story.
Bottom Line?
Mona drilling is the clearest near-term catalyst, while the Kanowna results give Cosmo more targets to rank. The immediate constraint is funding: the latest raise supports activity, but the reported cash position still leaves little room for delays or cost overruns.
Questions in the middle?
- Will Mona drilling confirm sulphide mineralisation beneath the historic workings, or show that the high-grade dump samples are locally restricted?
- Can follow-up drilling at Laguna Verde and Adder identify higher-grade zones within the broad, relatively low-grade mineralised systems?
- How quickly will Cosmo need to return to the market once Mona and Kanowna programs draw on the latest placement proceeds?