E79 Gold to Acquire Cue Gold Project in WA’s Day Dawn Goldfield - Resetting the Exploration Targets.
- Noel Ong
- Oct 5
- 11 min read
Announcement
E79 Gold Mines Limited (ASX: E79) has signed a binding agreement to acquire 90% of Cue Metals Pty Ltd, securing the rights to the Cue Gold Project (~70 km²) in the Day Dawn Goldfield, immediately south of Westgold’s high-grade Great Fingall operation (historic 1.2 Moz @ 19.2 g/t Au). The company has also received binding commitments for a $3.0 million placement at A$0.021/share (two tranches) to accelerate exploration.
Figure 1: Aerial view of the Cue Gold Project, looking south, relative to the Great Fingal Mining Complex, Break of Day Mine, Caprice Resources Island Project, and Mt Magnet Operations. (source: E79)
E79 Gold CEO Ned Summerhayes commented:
“The Cue Gold Project is situated in a discovery and M&A hotspot within one of the best gold addresses in Australia. The area contains Westgold’s famous high-grade Great Fingall and Golden Crown Gold Mines, Ramelius Resources’ Break of Day Mine and other exciting projects such as Caprice Resources’ Island Gold Project. Not many junior explorers get the opportunity to secure ground with gold discovery potential like this in such a tightly-held region.
“We are looking forward to unlocking this significant discovery opportunity with an aggressive and focused exploration campaign.
“We are also very much looking forward to working with Glenn Martin as Technical Consultant given Glenn’s track record of discovery in the region. We also welcome Matt Bowles to the E79 Gold Board, bringing additional corporate experience and extensive knowledge of the discovery and growth opportunity in the Murchison Region from his time at Alto Metals.”
E79 Gold Technical Consultant for the Cue Gold Project, Glenn Martin, commented:
“The Cue Gold Project represents a highly prospective area which remains under-explored due to post-mineral cover and shallow broad-spaced drilling. It has all the ingredients to contain significant high-grade gold deposits that this part of the Murchison Province is renowned for.”
Highlights - Resetting the Gold Exploration Targets.
Acquisition: Binding SPA to acquire 90% of Cue Metals (Cue Gold Project), with Cue Metals’ remaining 10% free-carried to completion of a Feasibility Study. Completion subject to customary conditions (shareholder approvals, ASX waiver, shareholder agreements, option formalities, and regulatory approvals).
Placement: $3.0m (before costs) at 2.1c, 12.8% discount to 5-day VWAP; Tranche 1 expected to settle on 10 Oct 2025 with allotment around 13 Oct 2025; Tranche 2 (incl. $115k director participation) subject to AGM approval (late Nov 2025). Not conditional on acquisition completion. Lead Manager: GBA Capital (6% fee).
Tier-1 address: Project sits immediately south of Great Fingall and along trends that have delivered high-grade quartz-reef gold systems (Great Fingall, Golden Crown, Break of Day). Under-explored due to post-mineral cover—opening discovery upside (Figure 2).
Early drill vectors: Historical intercepts include 13 m @ 2.2 g/t Au (EOH) (Ada), 20 m @ 0.6 g/t Au (Ada), 2 m @ 4.8 g/t Au (Chloe), 4 m @ 0.6 g/t Au (Riptide), 4 m @ 4.4 g/t Au (MBA23). Average historical drilling has only tested to ~50 m depth.
People: Appointment of Glenn Martin (ex-Musgrave Chief Geologist who led Break of Day discovery) as Technical Consultant; Matthew Bowles (ex-MD, Alto Metals) to join Board upon completion.
Infrastructure: Proximity to third-party mills (Ramelius’ Checkers ~60 km S; Westgold’s Tuckabianna ~25 km E) and Great Northern Highway.
Figure 2: Cue Gold Project location plan and local gold operations. (source: E79)
Project Overview & Geological Context
Cue lies within the Murchison Gold Province (Youanmi Terrane, Yilgarn Craton), covering parts of the Great Fingall Dolerite, Meekatharra Formation, and Big Bell Suite. The area is renowned for narrow-footprint, high-grade quartz reefs (typically 100–300 m strike, 2–10 m width), localised where dilational shears intersect rheological contrasts. Undercover conditions have historically limited modern, systematic exploration—E79 intends to apply high-resolution gravity and follow up along strike and under cover.
Figure 3: Geological setting and selected historical drill results of the Cue Gold Project. (source: E79)
Exploration Focus (Near-Term Work Program)
Initial work will target five prospects: Ada, Chloe, Riptide, Transformer, MBA23—prioritising areas with shallow, broad-spaced historical drilling and indications of reef-style mineralisation (Figure 4).
Figure 4: Location of priority gold targets relative to Golden Crown and Great Fingall open pits. (source: E79)
Key historical intercepts:
Ada: 13 m @ 2.2 g/t Au from 112–125 m (EOH) in GCRC936; 20 m @ 0.6 g/t Au from 45–65 m in GCRC935 (Figures 5 & 6 ).
Figure 5: Drill-hole location plan of Ada gold prospect. (source: E79)
See Figure 6 for an interpretive cross-section of the Ada gold prospect.
Figure 6: Interpretive cross-section of the Ada gold prospect. (source: E79)
Chloe: 2 m @ 4.8 g/t Au from 90–92 m in GCRC944 (plus multiple 2–6 m intervals 0.6–2.9 g/t Au).
Riptide: 4 m @ 0.6 g/t Au from 32–36 m in LAC802; 28 m @ 0.4 g/t Au (DD) at depth.
Transformer: Multiple 3–8 m intervals 0.5–1.6 g/t Au (AC).
MBA23: 4 m @ 4.4 g/t Au (AC).
E79 also highlights the potential for reef repeats along a 3+ km extension of the Great Fingall dolerite (Figure 7) and targets over a 6+ km strike in the Meekatharra Formation. High-resolution gravity is flagged as a proven discriminator to refine structural targets.
Figure 7: Break of Day / Day Dawn–Great Fingall targeting model (shear zones) (source: E79)
Capital Raising — Key Terms
Total: ~$3.0m (before costs) at A$0.021/share; 148.3m new shares.
Discount: 12.8% to 5-day VWAP prior to announcement.
Tranches:
T1 under LR 7.1/7.1A.
T2 (incl. $115k directors) subject to AGM approval (late Nov 2025).
Use of funds: Complete acquisition, scale up gravity surveys, target generation, first-pass drilling, and working capital. If acquisition doesn’t complete, funds will be redeployed to Mountain Home (NT), Laverton (WA), and working capital.
Acquisition & Option Structure (Summary)
Consideration (up to $1.2m in shares @ $0.021) over milestones:
$300k in shares at completion;
$600k in shares on transfer of optioned tenements (within 3 yrs);
$300k in shares on grant of tenement applications (within 3 yrs, pro-rata).
Optionors’ terms (on exercise): $50k cash + $100k cash/shares, plus milestone payments tied to maiden and subsequent JORC resource thresholds (≥100 koz, ≥250 koz, ≥500 koz), at E79’s election, cash or shares; 1% NSR retained by Optionors.
Tenure note: One tenement has a late rent payment under review; the company assesses forfeiture risk as low, given short delay and historical expenditure.
Board & Technical Appointments
Matthew Bowles to join as Non-Executive Director at completion (ex-Alto Metals MD; led growth of Sandstone to +1 Moz before Brightstar acquisition; currently MD of Indiana Resources).
Glenn Martin appointed Technical Consultant (ex-Musgrave Chief Geologist; involvement in Martabe, Jinfeng, Break of Day; senior roles at Red Hill, De Grey, Normandy).
Next Steps
E79 aims to complete the remaining conditions precedent and commence an aggressive exploration program at Cue, while continuing to advance Mountain Home (Cu-Au-Bi) and Laverton South (Au). Further shareholder updates are expected in the coming weeks.
Samso Concluding Comments
This is a very interesting address for E79. A very contested area that has been out of reach for many years, and for E79 to get its hands on it is certainly a good thing. I like the area as it is sitting alongside Great Fingall and Break of Day, which is as good a nearology play as one can get. Historically, ground in the Cue region has always carried the right geological DNA for narrow but high-grade systems, so this is one tick for E79.
The Analogy - The Day Dawn Nearology.
I am always against solely banking on a nearology concept, but when it is coupled with being in a belt like Day Dawn and Great Fingall (Figure 8), neighbourhood matters because structure, rheology contrasts, and historical mining all point to repeatable settings. The Great Fingall story is well known and this belt was the hot region when I first started out as a geologist in the early 1990s. After that period, it was kind of quiet till Westgold came along and made this a hot region again.
Figure 8: A long section of the Great Fingall Mine. (source: Westgold).
According to Westgold:
Westgold has multiple near-term development opportunities across its portfolio. Our next new mine is the iconic Great Fingall mine, which is located 5km southwest of Cue.Production from Great Fingall is expected to commence in the first half of FY25, with the decline development having commenced in October 2023. At steady state, Great Fingall will be a long-life, high-grade, high-margin underground mine, producing more than 45,000oz a year.
Lets remember that a discovery like Fingall that has stood the test of time is simply going to have many potential mineralisation nearby. One of the virtues of being exposed to this industry over the last 30 years is that the number or opportunities that are discovered right underneath the noses of explorers is amazing.
What is Possible - Never Never Discovery.
The Never Never discovery by Spartan Resources (Figure 9) is a great example as it was right next to a mined out Gidney's pit which was not the most economical story.
Figure 9: The Never Never discovery by Spartan was a significant value adding process for shareholders of Spartan Resources Limited which later merged with Ramelius Resources Limited (ASX: RMS). (source: Spartan Resources Limited).
This discovery was significant in the sensed that the project and hence the company was taken out of administration and with the guidance of Simon Lawson, it was history in the making for this industry.
Figure 10 below probably highlight the significance of the discovery which I assumed stems from having someone with the pedigree of a Simoon Lawson who was part of the Northern Star culture of developing and having the skillset to understand datasets.
Figure 10: The Never Never MRE highlighting the significance of looking at historical data and understanding the significance.. (source: Spartan Resources Limited).
As I understand, the Spartan story was borned out of the failed company called Dalgaranga Resources which had the same tenure in which Never Never was discovered. I would assume that there was a rethinking coupled with an ability to look at historical data and probably some inside understanding of geological controls that led to the discovery.
Spartan was then merged with Ramelius Resources Limited (ASX:RMS) for a deal about AUD $1.5B as a result of the Never Never discovery.
The Discovery of Pegasus and Hemi.
Another two obvious great discoveries that come to mind that had heaps of drilling all around it is Pegasus and Hemi. Who would have thought that millions of ounces (Hemi with 10 Moz and Pegasus with 1 Moz plus and up to another 3 Moz attributed to the initial discovery) would be found within an array of existing historical drilling( Figure 11).
Figure 11: The Before and After for the discovery of the Pegasus Gold Deposit. (source: Northern Star Resources).
Pegasus is located within the Kundana gold operations and was recently moved on to Evolution Mining Limited (ASX: EVN) from it s last part owner Northern Star Resources Limited (ASX: NST). If I am not mistaken, it is now called the Mungari project.
The Hemi discovery is very similar to except that the was a discovery of over 10 Moz of gold over the 3 to 4 years of drilling since discovery in 2020. Likewise, the company was eventually bought out for over AUD $4B recently by Northern Star Resources Limited (ASX: NST).
Figure 12: The before and after diagram of the discovery of the Hemi gold deposit by De Grey Mining Limited. (source; De Grey Mining Limited).
Hemi was in amongst known and mined out pits with resources. There was absolutely no love given to those isolated resources and it amounted to over 1M oz of gold. There was literally thousands of metres of drilling and it was a known province of gold mineralisation and it took a stroke of "whatever" after all those years for Hemi to be discovered.
When I mean a stroke of luck, it was someone or some group had probably looked at the dataset and looked at it from a different angle coupled with a different view of potential orientation of mineralisation.
Consideration for Potential Investors and Existing Shareholders.
In conclusion, my thoughts on the E79 deal is one of optimism and 'in the game of mineral exploration, the correct strategy with the right passion for discovery will be the key moving forward. Bringing in Glenn Martin with experience in the region is a big plus and as he is coming in with the project, I hope there is more in the connection than it appears. I hope he is bringing in the secret sauce. Hopefully Glen has the inside running on what may be in the project and reduces the guesswork and improves the target ranking.
A modest raise is good to show that we can at least get to first-pass drilling. In Figure 3, there looks like enough data to get the thinking juice happening and if one takes the view that the previous operators at Pegasus, hemi or Never Never, it will be interesting.. Historical data can do two things, create red hearings or give you enough information to see if there is an alternative thought on where potential places of mineralisation.
It is aliso very important to note that it does not cost a lot to have a "small drilling" program come up with results that turns a mouse into a giant elephant. It does take "out of the box thinking" and with the likes of the management in place, I have confidence that is in their DNA. One cannot fault the courage to persevere and having the "cricket balls" to proceed.
Inreality, there are no secrets in the next steps. If E79 can tick boxes in sequence, as the story graduates from address to discovery, the market will start to pay attention. Timing is good for E79 and I think the acquisition is in step with affordability, so that is a good sign for the market.
It is still an early stage, but with a Gold price surging as it is, good exploration results will give shareholders some reprieve from the past. As I am now a shareholder of the company, I will be making sure E79 is on my watchlist. I am working on getting Mr Ned back on a Coffee with Samso sometime soon.
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