Cosmo Metals (ASX:CMO) has completed technical, commercial, and legal due diligence on the acquisition of the Bingara and Nundle gold-antimony and copper exploration projects in New South Wales.
Cosmo is acquiring, subject to shareholder approval, the “highly prospective” Bingara and Nundle projects totalling an area of 743km2 in the New England Orogen, which extends from northern New South Wales along the eastern coast of Australia up to Townsville in northern Queensland.
Under a binding heads of agreement (HoA) announced on 12 February 2025, Cosmo had a 60-day period from execution to complete due diligence, which now marks satisfaction of a key condition precedent of the HoA leading into the general meeting scheduled for 28 March at which shareholders will be given the opportunity to approve the transaction.
The company’s technical team completed a site visit during the option period which confirmed the surface expression of largely untested mineralised systems at both Bingara and Nundle, as well as ground truthing the historic exploration completed by previous explorers at a number of highly prospective target areas and validating the exciting exploration targeting work completed by the vendors.
Cosmo says exploration works across the two projects during the option period are progressing to plan, highlighted by the completion of the Sub Audio Magnetotelluric (SAM) survey over the 2.5km long Mt Everest – Mona VMS trend at Bingara.
Managing Director Ian Prentice says the company is pleased by the progress that has been made in regard to on-ground exploration activities and the preparation and planning being undertaken to ensure Cosmo can move quickly to execute a ‘high-impact’ exploration strategy as rapidly as possible post completion of the acquisition of these underexplored, high potential assets.
This includes progressing drillhole planning and permitting for the initial drill testing at Hidden Treasure – Spring Creek. The Hidden Treasure – Spring Creek Trend is an early focus of Cosmo’s exploration strategy at Bingara initially targeting extensions of the flat lying Spring Creek gold zone where it is open to the east, and potential for steeper dipping feeder zones targets in the Hidden Treasure area.
Data from the SAM survey at the Mt Everest – Mona VMS trend is now being processed to assist in mapping the distribution of conductive ± magnetic anomalies that may represent drill targets for concealed massive sulphide and sulphide-magnetite lenses underlying and along strike from historic workings.
Prentice adds that follow up of the known mineralised trends at Mt Everest – Mona and targets identified from the SAM survey will be prioritised on completion of the acquisition.
The company has initiated a supplier selection process for the acquisition of new LIDAR coverage over key sections of the Bingara goldfield and the Mt Everest – Mona VMS trend at the Bingara Project, as well as the Folly Line and Barnard Hut – Back Barb areas at the Nundle Project.
The LIDAR and high-resolution natural colour imagery will be used as a base for a geological mapping, a geochemical program and design of follow-up drilling to test historic gold exploration results at Bingara and Nundle. The LIDAR visible band imagery will be particularly valuable for the Folly Line where recent logging of the plantation pine forest has exposed new outcrop over the area of the historic workings and opened up unprecedented access in this area.
The Bingara and Nundle Projects represent large, camp scale exploration opportunities with evidence of high grade multi commodity mineralisation and contain an extensive pipeline of highly prospective targets that are either under explored or completely untested with modern, systematic exploration.
Write to Adam Orlando at Mining.com.au
Images: Cosmo
