Pacgold snaps up Queensland gold-antimony project | Australian Markets

ASX-listed Pacgold Limited has added some critical sparkle to its exploration portfolio after locking in a farm-in settlement to accumulate up to 100 per cent of the St George gold-antimony project in northern Queensland’s Hodgkinson Province.

Pacgold now holds the reins to a huge 905-square-kilometre patch 450 kilometres northwest of Cairns, which has barely been touched by fashionable exploration regardless of old-time miners hauling out stibnite – the host rock for antimony – working at a jaw-dropping 60 per cent from shallow pits and adits.

Adding to the project’s credentials, and as half of the company’s own due diligence, Pacgold has additionally picked up a number of rock chips, together with one working at 66.6 per cent stibnite, a second grading 49.4 per cent stibnite and a third standout pattern clocking in at 16.35 per cent stibnite with 10.1 grams per tonne (g/t) gold.

A close-by prospect, Poppy, coughed up a jaw-dropping rock chip grading 112g/t gold and 17.5 per cent stibnite, suggesting the system has more than a little firepower left within the tank.

Under the phrases of the settlement, Pacgold will gain full possession of the project by means of a staged pathway. To get the ball rolling, the company has paid $200,000 in money and 10 million shares to vendor Hardrock Mineral Exploration. Stage one can be accomplished and 51 per cent of the project will change palms when Pacgold has spent $250,000 on the ground within the first 12 months and $1.5m within 24 months.

The stage two milestone to spice up the company’s holding to 80 per cent can be met if Pacgold completes a bankable feasibility research on a useful resource of at the very least 200,000 ounces gold equal earlier than August 2031.

Pacgold can then elect to go to full possession within one yr of the feasibility, after an unbiased valuation determines a appropriate fee for the remaining 20 per cent.

Hardrock will retain a 2.5 per cent internet smelter return royalty on antimony and 1.5 per cent on gold, with Pacgold in a position to buy back half at truthful worth.

Securing the St George gold-antimony project provides Pacgold publicity to a extremely potential, traditionally mined antimony asset in close proximity to our flagship Alice River gold project.

Antimony has been catapulted into the highlight as a essential mineral because of its use in flame retardants, semiconductors, defence systems and, more and more, superior battery chemistries.

However, the actual kicker for the steel got here 12 months in the past when China – which controls about 85 per cent of world provide – imposed an export ban on the silvery-grey factor, setting the price alight as the remaining of the world scrambled to shore up provide.

With world manufacturing outdoors China sliding lately, costs have rocketed to a report US$60,000 (A$92,000) per tonne.

Pacgold’s timing might hardly be higher. Hardrock just lately accomplished heritage clearance at St George, permitting the company to right away put boots on the ground to kick off mapping, soil geochemistry and gravity surveys.

It has additionally locked in a maiden drilling program for later this yr, when geophysics sharpens the targets. Pacgold already has more than 500 metres of mineralised strike and a string of walk-up hotspots alongside regional buildings simply ready for the drill rods to chunk.

Meanwhile, the company is pushing arduous at its Alice River gold project simply south of St George, which has floor and geophysical indicators stretching for kilometres, hinting at a Hemi-style intrusive gold system.

The discovery of Hemi-style “intrusive” gold mineralisation by DeGrey Mining in WA in 2019 sparked a frenzy throughout the exploration scene. The discover proved to be no flash within the pan both – Hemi has since coughed up a staggering 9.5 million ounces of gold and set the benchmark for intrusive gold discoveries in Australia.

Pacgold’s 2025 drilling season at Alice River didn’t disappoint with a string of shallow, high-grade hits stretching half a kilometre throughout its Central Target. One standout hit uncovered 48m grading 2.1g/t gold from 76m, together with a 2m part working at 29g/t.

These outcomes have been backed up with broad zones of mineralisation, together with 50m at 1g/t from floor and 26m at 1.1g/t.

The company says the outcomes reinforce the goal’s potential to ship a vital shallow, bulk-tonnage open pit.

With its farm-in deal now sealed, Pacgold appears set to write down the subsequent chapter within the St George story.

If the rock chips are something to go by, it could possibly be standing on a deposit that ticks two containers the punters love proper now – gold ounces within the ground and publicity to a booming essential mineral market. Let the joy start.

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