FBM acquires 100pc of Miriam with gold drilling on the horizon

Future Battery Minerals has moved to acquire 100pc of the Miram gold project from Corazon Minerals, as it looks to start exploration in July.

Post completion, the entire Coolgardie portfolio will be owned by FBM and free from any existing third-party royalty or offtake obligations. Pic: Getty Images

• FBM to acquire 100pc of Miriam gold project and associated gold and base metals rights

• Company to also acquire 2% net smelter return royalty over the project

• RC drilling of Forrest gold target scheduled to commence in July 2025

 

Special Report: Future Battery Minerals has moved to take full ownership of the Miriam project in WA, which in a critical clause will include all gold and base metals rights.

The project tenure covers a region of the Coolgardie Greenstone Belt that hosts multiple nearby gold deposits, including Horizon Minerals’ Burbanks (466,000oz at 2.4g/t gold), Beacon Minerals’ McPhersons Reward (132,000oz at 1.2g/t gold) and Focus Minerals’ Coolgardie Operations (2.7Moz at 1.8g/t gold).

Future Battery Minerals (ASX:FBM) has acquired the gold and base metal rights along with the remaining 15% of the residual lithium rights at the Miriam project from Corazon Mining (ASX:CZN) for A$350,000 cash.

Plus, the company has exercised its royalty option to acquire the existing 2% net smelter return (NSR) royalty over the project, which covers all minerals, for A$65,000 cash.

Notably, there are multiple prospective gold occurrences recorded and are available on the Mines and Mineral Deposits Public Database (MINEDEX), including the Forest, Goroke and Burbanks Monarch targets.

Miriam is prospective for lithium and nickel, but an epic bull run in the gold price to US$3215/oz ($5015/oz) has shone a spotlight back on the precious metals potential of the gold rush-era Coolgardie region.

FBM plans to collate and validate historic data within the region to better understand the potential of these recorded gold occurrences, and the broader gold and base metals prospectivity at the project.

And any future gold discoveries at Miriam would benefit from exceptional commercialisation optionality with several operating gold mills nearby.

“The acquisition of 100% ownership of all mineral rights at Miriam reflects FBM’s continued commitment to the exploration and development of this highly prospective project,” FBM managing director and CEO Nick Rathjen said.

“In addition to lithium, Miriam represents an attractive gold exploration opportunity, which also offers multiple long-term commercialisation pathways given its proximity to established processing mills and transport infrastructure.

“With the acquisition of the existing 2% NSR royalty over Miriam, we have also effectively cleared the decks of any non-government third-party obligations or rights with respect to royalties at the Coolgardie gold and lithium project.”

Exploration planned to commence in July

The company has commenced a geophysical review on the high priority gold targets identified at Miriam, with an initial drill program set to commence in July 2025 starting with RC drilling at the Forrest target.

FBM says it is well-funded to undertake all planned exploration activities through 2025 and beyond with a strong cash balance of A$7.4 million and zero debt (as at March 31, 2025).

“Coupled with a robust cash balance, FBM retains complete flexibility to strategically time and execute our future planned exploration activities at Miriam and undertake additional gold focused acquisitions,” Rathjen said.

“Our priority at Miriam will be geophysical review to better define new gold targets as well as review historical data relating to the historical gold occurrences identified at Forest, Goroke and Burbanks Monarch.

“The results of these evaluation workstreams are set to inform the design of a maiden RC drilling programme at Miriam, which is targeted to commence in July 2025.”

On completion of the acquisition, Corazon has also agreed to cancel its 120,967,744 performance rights held for no consideration.

This article was developed in collaboration with Future Battery Minerals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

Originally published as FBM acquires 100pc of Miriam with gold drilling on the horizon