Solstice Minerals (ASX:SLS) Managing Director Nick Castelden says the company is eyeing new corporate transactions and business development ideas.
After selling 80% of the Hobbes exploration licence to a subsidiary of Northern Star Resources (ASX:NST) for a cash consideration of $10 million, the company had $17.5 million in the bank, as of 30 June 2024.
“We’ve made offers on a couple of things, so we are definitely looking in a transactional manner,” Castleden told this news service from the sidelines of the Resources Rising Stars Conference in Queensland on Tuesday (3 September).
“There are plenty of opportunities out there. It is a buyer’s market for assets. We’re looking in the copper and gold space widely.”
Solstice Minerals, which has a market capitalisation of $18 million, is also planning to use the funds to continue exploring its own assets in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia, which covers 2,200km2.
“We are utilising some of the $17.5 million we have in the bank to conduct drilling some new gold targets, 150km from Kalgoorlie,” Castleden says.
“We are in an excellent place to find a new discovery. I’d love to go out there with a drill rig and tell you guys tomorrow about the new discovery we have made because that is the best result of all.”
The company is aiming to find new gold discoveries at the Yarri Project, which offers a mix of drill-ready prospects and high-impact greenfield targets, alongside the Ponton Project, which is a new frontier gold exploration opportunity.
At the Yarri Project, there is 100km of prime soil-covered gold exploration tenure. The area is under-explored and reverse circulation drilling is scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of this year.
“It is an interesting part of the world, there is a lot of transported cover, which means that previous exploration hasn’t always been effective,” Castleden says.
“What we are doing with these small and highly mobile cheap rigs is to drill holes through the transported profile, looking for something completely new.
“If you find something completely new in this market, everyone wants to know. It is great leverage there.”
Castleden adds that an aircore drill rig is moving to site and will begin testing greenfield targets shortly.
The company is undertaking several programs in the background for the remainder of the year and has spent $1.5 million this calendar year on drilling.
Solstice Minerals project’s comprise the Yarri, Kalgoorlie, and Ponton projects, which are considered prospective for gold and base metals.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Solstice Minerals
