Novo adds high-grade NSW gold projects

Novo Resources will have option agreements to acquire stakes in the John Bull and Tibooburra gold projects in NSW as part of new binding term sheets with TechGen Metals and Manhattan Corporation.

At John Bull, Novo has the option to acquire 80 per cent of the Micks Bull tenement and 70 per cent of the John Bull tenement, while the company has the option to acquire 70 per cent of Tibooburra from Manhattan.

The acquisitions align with Novo’s strategy of identifying projects with over one million ounces (Moz) of gold potential.

“Novo is pleased to complete option agreements on the John Bull gold project with TechGen Metals and the Tibooburra gold project with Manhattan Corporation,” Novo Resources executive co-chair and acting chief executive officer Mike Spreadborough said.

“Both projects are drill-ready, high-grade gold opportunities, located in excellent mining jurisdictions and most importantly, meet the specific project criteria required by our standout geological team to identify standalone gold projects with greater than one million ounces (of) development potential.”

Novo has planned over 2000m of drilling at John Bull in early 2025, with historical and recent exploration results highlighting its potential, including:

  • a historical 160m intersection grading 1.2 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, with highlights of 5m at 18g/t gold
  • soil sampling indicating a gold anomaly over 900m with seven samples above 4.5g/t gold
  • drill results such as 68m at 1g/t gold from surface and 94m at 0.95g/t gold from 4m.

The Tibooburra gold project, located in the historic Albert Goldfields, spans 630km2 and includes over 200 historic workings, with advanced targets New Bendigo and Clone boasting high-grade results:

  • New Bendigo: 8m at 40.5g/t gold from 70m, including 3m at 105.34g/t gold
  • Clone: 7m at 7.23g/t gold from 81m.

“High-grade gold projects are rare, and both the John Bull and Tibooburra gold projects have reported previous high-grade results,” Spreadborough said. “We are looking forward to getting on the ground early in 2025 and commencing both exploration programs.

“Importantly, the John Bull and Tibooburra gold projects compliment Novo’s existing high-quality Pilbara, Western Australia and Victoria exploration portfolio and following the recent sale of our partial investment on San Cristobal Mining for $11.5 million, we are well-funded to continue our strong exploration push in 2025.

“These acquisitions, supported by Novo’s strong funding, add to the company’s existing portfolio, enhancing its capacity to achieve exploration success in 2025.”

Subscribe to Australian Mining and receive the latest news on product announcements, industry developments, commodities and more.