Zulieka’s gold sense

Zuleika Gold boss Jonathan Lea’s ‘gold sense’ tells him his company’s renewed focussed approach will reap the rewards in Australia’s gold heartland — the place where he has spent a large part of his early career as a geologist.

He doesn’t have x-ray vision but a sixth sense after almost a decade spent kicking rocks in his early days at world-class gold projects on Kalgoorlie’s western side.

“If you are familiar with the rocks around you, the gold potential is much easier to see,” Lea explains – But the most important thing is that you must always keep moving,” he adds.

Zuleika has drilled over 9000 metres of highly prospective ground in the last 12 months.

Lea’s long association with the area began in 1994 with Pancontinental.

“I was responsible for mining geology and resource development at different times through multiple changes of ownership around the Kundana and Paddington gold mines,” he recalls.

“It was up to the team to quickly find, develop, and economically mine during a period of record low prices.

“You only had to get one part of that equation wrong in those days, and whatever profit remaining would be gone.”

Ironically, Lea finds himself back on his old stomping ground 20 years later with Zuleika at a time when commodity strategists are tipping gold prices to hit record levels this year as turmoil in the global banking sector intensifies recession fears, and central banks approach the end of their tightening cycles.

“It’s still not an easy market, but I think as the cycle develops, there will be a lot more capital coming into the gold sector,” Lea says.

“And while some investors still shy away from investing grassroots exploration, the potential upside in share price for junior companies is huge, particularly with a rising gold price and investment sentiment.”

Exploration team on-site at Zuleika North

Lea is an unshakeable gold bull, so it is hardly surprising he has taken a gloves-off approach in doing justice to its ‘Kalgoorlie portfolio’, which includes its flagship Zuleika Project on the prolific Zuleika Shear, responsible for more than 20 million ounces of gold to date.

“We remain committed to actively defining and drilling new gold targets, in a focussed and cost effective manner,” Lea says.

“In te past year Zuleika has drilled more than 9000 metres of aircore and  RC in the highly prospective ground while continuing to extend prospective areas with over 2500 soil samples taken from our Goongarrie, Menzies and Zuleika priority projects.”

Excitement is high within Zuleika after soil geochemistry programmes defined highly promising drill targets at Menzies and near Kalgoorlie at the Zuleika North and Grants Patch prospects.  

“Ongoing soil sampling has excellent potential to better define gold anomalies at the Goongarrie project and reveal further targets near Kalgoorlie,” Lea says.

“Drill planning and approvals are well progressed to enable drill testing of the higher priority targets in the second quarter.”

Jonathan Lea

Is a mining industry executive and Member of the AusIMM with over 37 years of expertise in all aspects of the mineral industry. After commencing as a geologist, recent roles for junior mineral exploration and development companies at the Managing Director level have focused on all aspects of resource company development, project generation, corporate management and capital raising.

Particular success was achieved with Polaris Metals following the discovery and initial development of the Carina iron ore deposit, leading to a takeover producing significant shareholder benefits. An extensive project development and production experience, focusing on gold, also covers several commodities, including iron ore and base metals, in both open-cut and underground settings, mainly in WA but elsewhere in Australia and overseas.

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