Riversgold (ASX:RGL) is planning air core drilling west of its Northern Zone Gold Project in Western Australia after agreeing to buy surrounding tenure from Black Cat Syndicate (ASX:BC8).
The company has signed a binding agreement to acquire 100% of granted exploration licence E25/594, covering about 12km2, from Black Cat (Kal East), a wholly owned subsidiary of Black Cat Syndicate.
The licence wraps the western, northern, and southern sides of Northern Zone’s single 0.82km2 mining lease, M25/389, in which Riversgold holds 80% and Oracle Gold (WA) the remaining 20%.
The project forms part of the Kalgoorlie Gold Project, 25km east of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. The deal lifts the immediate project area to 12.82km2.
Consideration is $1 million in cash and 111,111,111 Riversgold shares at a deemed issue price of $0.009, both paid on completion, with the shares escrowed for 12 months.
Riversgold will fund the cash from a future capital raising, with terms and timing yet to be determined.
Black Cat receives a 1% net smelter return royalty over minerals extracted from the licence, secured by a charge, and Riversgold assumes an existing 1% royalty payable to Mining Equities.
Completion is due within three months, with a possible one-month extension, and depends on Mining Equities consenting to the existing royalty.
Drilling has shown gold mineralisation remains open west of M25/389, with previously reported intercepts near the boundary including 16m @ 4.69 grams per tonne gold (Au) from 30m and 15m @ 2.1g/t Au from 36m.
Historic drilling totals 299 holes for 14,911m, but 254 are rotary air blast holes that mostly did not penetrate transported cover. The company considers the targets effectively untested and stresses they are conceptual, based on geophysical interpretation.
Executive Chairman David Lenigas says the purchase removes a boundary constraint that has limited the project for years. Riversgold drilled nearly 7,000m at Northern Zone in the past 12 months.
“We intend to start drilling westwards as soon as permits are in place,” Lenigas adds.
Riversgold will compile and validate historic data before seeking a programme of work approval for a first-phase air core program testing the western extension.
The company lodged the Northern Zone Mine Development and Closure Proposal on 30 September 2026. Lenigas says the acquisition does not change the approval timing.
Riversgold is an Australian gold developer and base metals explorer with key assets across Western Australia and Canada.
Write to JC Villarba at Mining.com.au
Images: Riversgold
