Junior critical minerals explorer West Cobar Metals acquires Mystique, an IGO gold tenement in Fraser Range

A WA junior critical minerals explorer has snapped up a highly prospective gold tenement in the Fraser Range from IGO. West Cobar Metals told the Australian Securities Exchange on Wednesday it had executed binding conditional agreements to acquire IGO’s interest in tenement E28/2513 — otherwise known as the Mystique Project. West Cobar said Mystique was a complementary and strategic addition to its existing copper-gold exploration project in the Fraser Range, and an exploration program was planned to follow up key targets. The Subiaco-headquartered company said it also a conditional agreements in place to acquire IGO’s 70 per cent interests in three other tenements in the Fraser Range, with Rumble Resources the joint venture partner with the 30 per cent stake in these. West Cobar said the 35sqkm Mystique project had benefited indirectly from the results of seven years of systematic exploration work by IGO on licences to the north, and also from direct expenditure of about $380,000 on work including gravity surveying, moving loop electromagnetic surveying, and air core drilling. The company said the deal involved it issuing five million unlisted options to IGO with an exercise price of 8¢ and expiry of three years from issue, subject to shareholder approval. West Cobar said the deal was subject to a consent caveat registered by Loded Dog Prospecting, which had a net smelter royalty on the tenement at a rate of 1.5 per cent for gold and 1 per cent for all other minerals. The company said it would also need to obtain consent from the Ngadju Native Title Aboriginal Corporation. West Cobar managing director Matt Szwedzicki said the company had signed the agreement to acquire the project at a time when WA gold exploration assets were in strong demand. “The Mystique project comprises a key land area with exceptional and immediate potential for both shallow and large scale gold deposits,” he said. “IGO’s exploration to date has provided highly encouraging results and we look forward to exploring this additional Fraser Range tenement for gold in WA.” West Cobar also has the Salazar critical minerals project 120km north-east of Esperance, and the Bulla Park copper-antimony-silver project in central NSW.