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Caeneus joins Pilbara gold hunt with exquisite nearology

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Matt BirneySponsored
Caeneus' strategic new tenure in the Pilbara.
Camera IconCaeneus' strategic new tenure in the Pilbara. Credit: Caeneus Minerals

Caeneus Minerals has joined the hunt for gold in the Pilbara, recruiting terrane expert and accomplished company maker, Rob Mosig, to lead the charge as it seeks to explore Caeneus’ newly granted tenements that have arguably the best nearology argument of all the hopefuls when it comes to De Grey’s magnificent Hemi discovery in the region.

Caeneus’ newly granted Robert’s Hill tenement lies only 6km to the northwest of De Grey’s Hemi discovery and only about 200m north of De Grey’s rapidly advancing Shaggy discovery.

The Perth-based gold explorer’s tenure in the northern Pilbara is comprised of three project areas approximately 50km southwest of Port Hedland in a region that De Grey recently made famous with its revered gold discovery.

The company’s ground holdings include the Yule River project, the recently granted Robert’s Hill project and the Mt Berghaus tenure, which is expected to be granted in the coming weeks.

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Caeneus has a long association with the Pilbara, as its exploration in the region dates back almost 20 years. The company had previously undertaken nickel and cobalt exploration at Pardoo, northeast of Port Hedland, in the early 2000’s before shifting its focus to lithium in the US, which proved a lucrative move prior to the GFC.

However, with lithium currently taking a break and gold now on the move, the company has refocused back on home soil in Western Australia.

Caeneus’ projects cover an area of over 475 square kilometres through the emerging Mallina gold province, which is about as hot as gold provinces get right now. De Grey’s ongoing success at Mallina has seen that company’s share price skyrocket from $0.05 in January 2020 to $1.00 by the start of July, delivering a $1b market cap for De Grey and a 20 fold increase to its shareholders that were fortunate enough to have been along for the ride.

De Grey’s resource inventory for the region already stands at more than 2.2 million ounces of gold with the company hinting that the present resource may only be the tip of the iceberg. Caeneus is now perfectly positioned to join the hunt in the Pilbara with the company’s three project areas hosting a range of gold and base metals targets that look like they are begging for attention.

The Robert’s Hill and Mt Berghaus projects cover the auriferous Mallina Shear but according to the company, have curiously been the subject of little meaningful exploration and are bereft of surface sampling and drilling. One school of thought is that this lack of work is possibly due to a veneer of sand covering the highly prospective bedrock across much of the tenement area. Whilst this is a potential obstacle it also represents a significant opportunity for the company given the lack of exploration in the area.

Caeneus is utilising an innovative mix of geophysics and satellite imagery to guide its targeting across the covered terrane and it has already identified a series of lineament and fault intersections running through its new tenure that bears a striking resemblance to the architecture hosting the nearby Hemi and Shaggy discoveries.

Interestingly, De Grey’s Shaggy discovery lies a mere stone throw south of the Robert’s Hill tenement, making it a somewhat tantalising target as exploration kicks off in the coming weeks.

The company’s growing position in the Pilbara has attracted the attention of several parties but none more so than industry veteran and Pilbara expert, Rob Mosig, who joined the company as its new Chief Executive Officer this week.

Mosig is a well-respected mining executive and Geologist with more than 30 years of experience. As Managing Director of Helix Resources, he previously took that company’s share price on a wild ride in the eighties from 20c to $10 – and then did it again in the nineties.

As Managing Director of Platina Resources, he proved that Helix wasn’t just a fluke after he presided over Platina’s share price hike from 20c to $1.60.

That Mosig has taken an executive position at the $14m market capped Caeneus is curious.

Interestingly, Caeneus is also backed by major shareholder and now corporate advisor, Matt Blake, who recently sold out of well-known Perth stockbroking firm DJ Carmichael after a long stint there as a part owner and broker.

Back in 1986 Mosig and Helix made a platinum discovery at Fifield in New South Wales before repeating the feat a second time in 1996 when he kicked off the gold rush in the Gawler Craton following the discovery of the Tunkillia deposits north of Adelaide, now held by Barton Gold.

He is a long-time proponent of the Pilbara, with Helix having undertaken much of the first meaningful modern exploration across the terrane in the 1980s and 90s in its search for elusive platinum deposits.

The board is pleased to appoint Rob as Chief Executive Officer of Caeneus. For the Company to be able to attract an executive of the calibre of Rob with his outstanding track record of success is a reflection of the quality and potential of the Mallina Province Projects.

I am confident that with Rob’s technical and corporate experience, we can successfully develop these exciting new tenements and add to our project portfolio. With the granting of Roberts Hill and Mt Berghaus now imminent, the Company now has a strong footprint in the highly prospective Mallina Shear Zone as well as the Sholl Shear Zone at our nearby Yule River project.

Caeneus Minerals Chairman, Peter Christie

The company’s trifecta of projects in the Mallina province boasts an outstanding address with Caeneus having now completed its initial review of the tenure. An evaluation of the historical exploration data and targeting, using a variety of remote sensing techniques, will place the company in good stead as it hits the ground running in the coming weeks.

Since De Grey’s Hemi gold discovery earlier this year, it seems that almost every small capped explorer on the ASX has been jostling and horse trading for ground around it – and if it is a hundred kms or so away, that doesn’t seem to matter,

Caeneus on the other hand has been sitting on its ground only about 6km from Hemi for a couple of years and got lucky after De Grey made its discovery.

No doubt the market meerkats will be sitting bolt upright when Caeneus produces its first drill numbers from the project.

Is your ASX listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@wanews.com.au

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