Critica (ASX:CRI) has entered into a farm-in agreement with Ausgold (ASX:AUC) regarding exploration licence E70/5077, which lies adjacent to the Kulin Gold Project and 75km northeast of its flagship Katanning Gold Project (KGP) in Western Australia.
Executive Chairman John Dorward says the farm-in a strategic step for Ausgold to expand its regional footprint across the Katanning Greenstone Belt.
“This new tenement complements our strong regional landholding surrounding our flagship Katanning Gold Project, which includes the Kulin Project as well as other advanced exploration prospects such as Duggan and Nanicup Bridge-Zinger,” Dorward says.
“This agreement directly aligns with our strategy to establish a regional production hub at the Katanning Gold Project, by discovering and developing high-quality, near-surface satellite deposits that can leverage our existing infrastructure and scale.”
Covering 106km2, E70/5077 represents a single granted exploration licence along the eastern margin of the Katanning Greenstone Belt.
Under the farm-in deal, Ausgold can earn up to a 70% interest over three and a half years. Ausgold will spend $250,000 within 18 months to earn a 51% interest, and a further $360,000 over the following 24 months to earn an additional 19%.
Upon completion, Critica will retain a 30% interest, with the right to convert to a 1.5% net smelter royalty at a decision to mine.
Critica, which has a market capitalisation of $43.15 million, says the agreement forms part of its strategy to focus on the Jupiter Rare Earths Project in Western Australia, while reducing cash expenditure on non-core assets.
Ausgold intends to lodge a program of work in Q1 FY2026 and expects to begin a maiden drilling program in Q2 or Q3 FY2026. The program will target high-priority gold-in-soil and trenching anomalies to unlock the project’s discovery potential.
Critica is a rare earth-focused explorer that is advancing and developing the Jupiter Project. The project has a global inferred resource of 1.8 billion tonnes @ 1,700 parts per million (ppm), including 520 million tonnes @ 2,200ppm total rare earth oxides.
Ausgold is a Perth-based gold explorer and developer focused on its suite of projects located in several mineral provinces across Australia.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Ausgold
