Platina chases strike extensions at emerging Laverton gold play

The company’s savvy exploration model of advancing early-stage projects before monetising them to fund the next generation of opportunities looks to be paying dividends. The Owendale scandium sale to Rio proved a textbook example, shifting the capital and development risk of a specialist critical minerals project to a major with the balance sheet to handle it, while leaving Platina cashed-up to chase gold.

The company has also demonstrated its willingness to take the tin-snips to its portfolio, having previously sold its Xanadu project, relinquished Challa and farmed out Brimstone to other explorers.

Beyond Mt McKenna, Platina still holds its Sunrise Bore project, 44km south of Laverton, which previously delivered a solid 29m at 3.38g/t gold from just 11m. That hit included an 11-metre core grading an eye-catching 8.62g/t alongside further intersections of 18m at 1.12g/t and 37m running 0.43g/t. The first campaign tested just 200m of a much bigger 1.2km mineralised trend sitting within a broader 3.6km structural corridor, leaving plenty of untouched ground for the drill bit to chew through.

Platina’s portfolio also includes the earlier-stage Mt Morgans South prospect, 35km south-west of Laverton. The 126.4-square-kilometre patch of ground sits near Genesis Minerals’ three-million-tonne-per-annum Mt Morgans processing plant and its 1.4 million-ounce Westralia gold deposit, highlighting the strategic nature of the address.

With the Rio Tinto deal now financially complete, a healthy bank balance, and the drill rods turning in one of WA’s most productive and richly endowed gold districts, Platina’s focus now appears to be shifting squarely to unearthing a meaningful discovery.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au