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Multi-metal junior Great Western Exploration Ltd (ASX: GTE) has seen its shares jump nearly 11 percent on news it has secured West Australian government funding to test two prioritised copper-gold targets within its Yerrida North project north of Perth.
Shares rose 10.71 percent on news of the allocation as part of the state government’s Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS), Greta Western, which will co-fund Great Western for an imminent program of diamond drilling to test the targets of Oval and Oval South.
These targets were first identified by Rio Tinto in the 1990s, and were then assessed through a VTEM survey by Great Western in 2010.
Bolstering hopes for exploration of Oval and Oval South is their location adjacent to two major volcanic hosted Massive sulphide (VMS) deposits which have yielded the high-grade copper gold mines of DeGrussa and its satellite Monty, both operated by Sandfire Resources Ltd (ASX: SFR).
DeGrussa – which began operating in 2012 and ramped down in 2022 – produced an average of 1.5 million tonnes of copper ore for up to 300,000 tonnes of high-grade copper concentrate per year.
According to the EIS allocation, Great Western will be 50 percent funded for their drilling costs – capped at $113,000 – and will receive a further $5,000 towards drill rig mobilisation costs.
Both targets are significant in size within the Yerrida North Project, which sits on northern and western parts of the Yerrida Basin, 800 kilometres north-east of Perth.
Great Western has been trading at 6.2c.
