Pantera Minerals has completed its acquisition of the 470 km2 Corona Gold Project in Western Australia’s Albany Fraser Orogen, securing 100% ownership of a largely underexplored gold project and clearing the way for an initial exploration program targeting historical gold anomalies.
Location of the Corona Gold Project relative to Kalgoorlie, regional mills and BPM Minerals’ Forelands Project. Image Credit: Pantera Minerals Limited
The acquisition was finalized on 27 October 2026, less than a month after the agreements were announced, following satisfaction of all conditions precedent, including Ministerial consent for the transfer of one of the project's two exploration licenses.
Located approximately 200 km east of Kalgoorlie, Corona contains an 8 km-long gold-in-bedrock anomaly identified through historical aircore drilling, alongside several untested gold anomalies in the western portion of the project.
Pantera acquired the project for total consideration of $200,000, comprising $40,000 in cash and $160,000 in shares, together with a 2% aggregate gross revenue royalty subject to partial buy-back provisions.
The relatively modest upfront acquisition cost provides Pantera with exposure to a substantial gold exploration landholding while retaining capital for its proposed exploration activities.
Historical Drilling Highlights Exploration Potential
The Corona prospect contains an 8 km-long interpreted gold-bearing structure identified through historical aircore drilling, with results including 6 m at 1.50 g/t gold from 66 m, including 2 m at 2.55 g/t gold, and 11 m at 0.29 g/t gold from 93 m.
Despite the extent of the anomaly, only one reverse circulation (RC) drillhole has been completed in the prospect area, approximately 250 m from the strongest historical anomaly.
Elsewhere within the project, historical surface sampling identified multiple gold anomalies exceeding 50 parts per billion (ppb), with peak results of 128 ppb gold.
These western anomalies have not been followed up with closer-spaced sampling or drilling, while approximately 30% of the broader project area has never undergone geochemical sampling.
The historical results remain unverified by Pantera's own drilling or sampling and will require further exploration to establish their significance.
Regional Gold Discoveries Provide Exploration Context
Corona lies within the Albany Fraser Orogen, along the broader structural corridor that hosts the Tropicana gold mine and BPM Minerals' Beachcomber gold discovery.
BPM's nearby Beachcomber discovery has reported high-grade drilling intersections including 3 m at 65.8 g/t gold and 1 m at 85.61 g/t gold.
Importantly, Beachcomber was identified beneath a surface gold anomaly measuring 74 ppb, providing regional exploration context for Corona's historical surface sampling results.
However, results from neighboring projects are not necessarily indicative of the mineralization present at Corona.
The project is also located within approximately 200 km of several established gold processing facilities, including Paddington and Lakewood.
Acquisition Completed with Funding Available for Exploration
Pantera has confirmed it is funded to commence exploration at Corona, reporting approximately $1.7 million in cash at the end of the previous quarter, with a further $2 million expected from EnergyX in April 2027.
The acquisition involved the issue of 10,568,030 shares to the vendors at a deemed price of $0.01514 per share, alongside the previously paid $40,000 cash consideration.
Pantera has also issued shares in partial settlement of an introduction fee, bringing its total ordinary shares on issue to 504,138,656.
The company has stated that its planned work at Corona will not divert funding or attention from its existing US critical minerals portfolio.
Exploration Program to Commence
With ownership secured, Pantera will begin heritage and access engagement with the Upurli Upurli Nguratja native title holders and undertake a review and reinterpretation of historical exploration data.
The company plans to complete closer-spaced ultra-fine fraction (UFF) soil sampling across priority gold anomalies to better define potential drilling targets.
The results will inform the ranking of targets for subsequent aircore and RC drilling, subject to the necessary work programs and access arrangements.
The immediate focus will be on validating historical exploration targets and determining which areas warrant more detailed investigation.