Clara Resources Australia Ltd. has finalised plans for a maiden, multi-stage drilling campaign at its Mareeba gold project in Far North Queensland, marking the first drilling at the site since Western Mining Corporation (WMC) departed in 1989.
The company has secured firm commitments to raise AU$1.165 million, through a two-tranche placement to fund the exploration program, which will target high-grade historic workings and drive towards a maiden JORC mineral resource.
The broader program comprises up to 86 reverse circulation (RC) holes for 12,900 metres across five key target areas within EPM 13944 in the Hodgkinson Province. Clara will initially drill 25 RC holes totalling 3,750 metres on previously cleared ground to minimise site disturbance.
A primary objective is infilling WMC’s 1980s shallow reconnaissance drilling along the Kingsborough Fault corridor at half its original spacing.
By drilling at 25-metre intervals, Clara aims to confirm historic results using modern assaying techniques while upgrading the geological database required for a formal JORC resource estimate.
The campaign will also deliver high-impact testing beneath the historic Victory and B.B. mines, which produced gold at high grades exceeding 30 grams per tonne before shutting due to water ingress rather than depleted mineralisation. Neither target has previously been drill-tested.
Clara Executive Director Duncan Gordon said: “This is the first drilling at Mareeba since WMC walked away at the end of the 1980s.
“We have two key aims. Firstly, we want to infill the historic drilling along the Kingsborough Fault corridor and drive additional results to deliver a JORC compliant Mineral Resource.
“The second aim is potentially even more exciting—we will tackle the depth extent of some particularly high grade historical mining operations on our tenements that have never been drilled.”
The company will issue 388.33 million shares at 0.3 cents per share in a two-tranche placement. The first tranche will raise AU$690,000 through a placement of 230 million shares, while the second tranche will issue 158.33 million shares to raise AU$475,000.
On completion of both tranches, the placement will represent approximately 14.8 per cent of the company’s enlarged issued capital, with Tranche 1 alone representing approximately 9.3 per cent.
