In a significant boost for its Western Australian gold ambitions, Reach Resources has secured a crucial mining lease for its prospective Jacamar gold deposit, located within the company's broader Murchison South project.
Strategic Lease Grant Expands Gold Footprint
The newly granted mining lease for the Jacamar project is situated less than one kilometre southeast of the historic Payne's Find Hotel on the Great Northern Highway. This strategic location places the lease's northern boundary just over a kilometre south of Reach's established Blue Heaven deposit, which holds a resource of 61,300 ounces of gold.
Both deposits lie along the same major Primrose Fault, a recognised mineralisation-controlling structure in the region. The eastern boundary of the new lease lies a mere 180 metres west of the privately owned Daffodil mine pit and the same distance northwest of Reach's Pansy open pit.
Resource Growth and Exploration Potential
Reach recently announced a maiden mineral resource estimate for its Pansy deposit of 72,000 tonnes at 2.5 grams per tonne gold for 5,800 ounces. Combined with the Blue Heaven resource, this brings the project's total inventory to 67,100 ounces of gold.
Mineralisation at Pansy remains open at depth and along strike, with historical drilling limited to just 60 metres. This shallow exploration history presents a major opportunity, as high-grade intercepts at the neighbouring Blue Heaven deposit extend to depths of around 200 metres.
The Jacamar deposit is interpreted as a highly prospective extension along the Primrose Fault. While past workings at Jacamar have seen only shallow exploration, a reverse circulation drilling program in mid-2022 returned encouraging results. One hole, terminating in mineralisation at 29 metres, yielded a 1-metre intercept assaying 3.35 grams per tonne gold.
Advancing a Historic Gold District
Reach is currently undertaking a rock chip sampling program across the Jacamar lease area. This work aims to gain a first-pass understanding of surface gold distribution, identify exposed quartz veins, and further de-risk the prospect.
The project benefits from exceptional infrastructure, located at Paynes Find on the sealed Great Northern Highway in the Yalgoo Mineral Field, roughly 350 kilometres north of Perth. With gold prices currently trading above the levels used in the company's earlier economic modelling, the Murchison South project is well-positioned for rapid advancement.
The new lease grant effectively expands the scope for two significant mining zones within the project: the established Blue Heaven deposit and a potential combined Pansy-Jacamar system. Industry observers are now keenly awaiting results from deeper drilling at Jacamar, which could unlock further gold potential in this historic yet underexplored corner of Western Australia's prolific goldfields.
