Now, ex-Genesis bosses Mike Fowler and Tommy McKeith are aiming to finish off that bit of business with a plan to raise up to A$6 million at 20c per share for the float of Ordell Minerals.
Ordell has three assets in Western Australia, including the Goodia gold-lithium project and Fisher South gold play, but Fowler makes no bones about the fact that Barimaia is the focus.
The project is adjacent to Ramelius Resources’ 3.1 million ounce Mt Magnet operation in the Murchison region and is associated with the Meekatharra-Mt Gibson fault, related to around 9.5Moz in gold that has been mined or discovered over the decades.
The target could be similar to Ramelius’ Eridanus deposit.
Eridanus is a style of stockwork mineralisation associated with felsic intrusions that is less common than the banded iron formation-hosted deposits known in the area. It has become a key focus for Ramelius, with resources recently pushed to around 1.2Moz with increasingly high-grade gold being found in the pit floor.
Ramelius considers Eridanus increasingly important to its future at Mt Magnet, and Ordell’s thesis is that somewhere below the 3-12m of cover, it may have a lookalike on its hands at Barimaia.
Fowler previously described Barimaia as a “sleeper” given it was not considered prospective for gold until the early 2000s when a local prospector noted unexpected rocks in a water bore.
While past work was limited, aircore drilling at the McNab’s prospect encountered felsic porphyry rocks associated with a 3km-long anomaly.
Follow-up RC drilling in 2018 returned assays such as 15m at 11.42 grams per tonne from 74m and 19m at 1.48gpt from 18m, but there’s been little follow-up. More recently, the recognition of a new structural model suggests that past work wasn’t optimal.
What was non-core for Genesis is now the nucleus for Ordell, and considering the Mt Magnet mill is next door, and the Dalgaranga and Tuckabianna mills are within 80km, it is well placed for development.
Almost $2 million of the IPO funds are targeted at Barimaia, with around $600,000 of RC drilling planned along the 2.5km of strike defined so far.
Another $250,000 is earmarked for extensional aircore drilling along what could be a 4km-long bedrock gold trend.
Around $1 million is budgeted for the other projects.
Goodia is about 200km south of Kalgoorlie and comprises a single 75sq.km licence near Norseman and has reported pegmatites with anomalous lithium. Access issues mean the gold and nickel potential is not as advanced as other areas of the Eastern Goldfields.
It sits on the same trend as the Mt Marion and Dome North lithium deposits.
Fisher South is midway between Wiluna and Leinster and spans portions of the Dingo Range and Mt Fisher greenstone belts, but the belts are obscured by significant transported sediment and gravel. Bullseye Mining has had recent success unlocking Dingo Range to the south, prompting a takeover by Emerald Resources.
It was last explored for nickel by Rox Resources and is being acquired from Duketon Mining, which applied for the area in 2021.
Consideration is $200,000 worth of IPO shares.
Argonaut Securities is lead manager for the offer and is expected to be a major shareholder alongside Fowler, McKeith and Genesis.
