ASX-listed Kula Gold has named experienced geologist Ric Dawson as its new managing director, effective immediately after now-former director John Hannaford decided to leave the post to focus on other business activities.
Mr Dawson was appointed to the company’s chief executive officer role in October last year and has more than 20 years’ experience in gold, nickel, copper and kaolin projects throughout Western Australia and the Northern Territory. He previously worked as managing director of Australia Minerals and Mining Group –now Altech Batteries – and also at Prosperity Resources, where he successfully undertook an IPO to list the company on the ASX.
Kula says Mr Dawson has played key roles in developing several gold deposits, in addition to a role in the research and development of the process of converting kaolin to high-purity alumina at the Meckering project in WA.
The company has recently been focusing its attention on its Kirup project that covers 117 square kilometres and sits about 20km to the west of the world-class Greenbushes mine. The Greenbushes deposit is recognised as boasting the world’s highest grade of lithium from spodumene in pegmatites. Its output accounts for about 22 per cent of the global lithium market and it produces nearly 2 million tonnes of lithium spodumene, annually.
Kirup complements Kula’s other lithium play, Brunswick, which covers a 300sq km holding 20km to the north, and both projects are within greenstone terranes in the south-west of the Yilgarn Craton. The terrane is considered prospective for greenstone-hosted gold, epithermal gold and Julimar-style copper-nickel-platinum group elements (PGE) mineralisation.
Kula returned grades of up to 7.95 grams per tonne gold at the site from early-stage exploration last year.
Last month, the company announced that its drilling program at Kirup had been temporarily suspended due to unfavourable ground conditions. But it is now confident the work will be back on track in just a few weeks.
Meanwhile, the drill rig is heading to the company’s joint venture Rankin Dome project near Southern Cross, where operating partner Australian Critical Minerals is managing a maiden reverse-circulation (RC) drill program aimed at rare earths and lithium from targets generated last year.
Further work planned by Kula in the area includes geological mapping and systematic rock-chip sampling of the pegmatitic outcrop on the Kirup project, while follow-up RC drilling is planned upon more favourable surface conditions if assays confirm anomalous lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT) or gold.
That should all provide Mr Dawson with plenty of grist for the mill.
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