Kula Gold Limited announces that it has received formal approval of the grant of the Wozi Niobium Project tenement by the Director General of Malawi Government’s Mining and Minerals Regulatory Authority (“MMRA”).
HIGHLIGHTS
- Wozi Niobium/Tantalum Project Exploration Licence Granted
- Strategy to advance quickly with low-cost exploration of this critical mineral project towards a maiden resource
- Niobium and Tantalum Mineralisation from surface
- Good road infrastructure for easy access and low-cost location
- Large scale potential
- No historical exploration drilling
- Historical systematically sampled trench results include;
- WCT001/1a
- 145m @ 0.55% Nb2O5 & 119ppm Ta2O5; and 41m @ 0.54% Nb2O5 & 122ppm Ta2O5
- WCT03
- 192m @ 0.49% Nb2O5 & 158ppm Ta2O5
- WCT001/1a
- Kula’s Mt Palmer Gold Project in Southern Cross goldfields of WA remains the Company’s flagship asset
Next Steps
The Company will shortly commence a field programme to confirm the historic niobium and tantalum trenching results and expand the sampling area. This will include field mapping and expansion across the tenement with further rock-chip and soil sampling to outline the scale potential of the Wozi Niobium Project.
This work will advance toward a maiden drilling programme in the December quarter 2025.
Additional tenure is also under evaluation.
Malawi has an international credit rating of B by Fitch’s international credit rating agency and hosts a number of advanced and producing mining projects that are owned by major mining companies.
Kula’s Managing Director, Ric Dawson comments:
“Whilst continuing to advance our robust Mt Palmer Gold Project, Kula had identified the Wozi Niobium Project as a very interesting high impact, low-cost niobium opportunity to add to the Company’s portfolio.
Kula looks forward to quickly advancing the Wozi Niobium Project towards a maiden drilling programme to see what this exciting new critical minerals project can deliver for shareholders.”
Figure 1: Kula’s new Wozi Niobium Project location map.
Wozi Niobium Project
The Wozi Niobium Project is in Malawi, 225km north of the capital Lilongwe (Figure 1). The exploration licence comprises EL0822/24 covering a total area of approximately 5.52km2 of igneous and metamorphic rocks of the Precambrian to Lower Palaeozoic Basement of the Mozambique Orogenic Belt within the Malawi Rift Valley System, which forms part of the greater East African Rift Valley System. The project area the subject of the tenement application was previously held by Mantra Resources Limited (“Mantra” or “MRU”), which undertook exploration on the area in 20072008 and announced results to ASX on 2 August 2007, September 2007 Quarterly Report and 31 October 2007 under the 2004 edition of the JORC Code. These announcements by Mantra may not conform to the requirements of the JORC Code 2012, however Kula considers the announcements to be reliable.
A Competent Person has not done sufficient work to disclose the below exploration results in accordance with the JORC Code 2012. It is possible that following further evaluation and/or exploration work that the confidence in the prior reported exploration results may be reduced when reported under the JORC Code 2012. Nothing has come to Kula’s attention that causes it to question the accuracy or reliability of exploration results previously announced by Mantra; however, Kula has not independently validated Mantra’s exploration results and therefore is not to be regarded as reporting, adopting or endorsing those results.
The Wozi Niobium Project hosts niobium and tantalum mineralisation from surface contained in the mineral pyrochlore within a nepheline syenite intrusive stock. Nepheline syenites are highly prospective targets for peralkaline intrusive-related niobium and tantalum mineralisation.
The local geological setting of the project area comprises Precambrian metasedimentary units dominated by hornblende-biotite-garnet gneiss intruded by a discrete nepheline syenite stock. (Figure 4).
Historical work defined a significant niobium soil anomaly at an area named Anomaly C. The soil anomaly is aligned generally north-south and appears to coincide with the mapped outer western marginal zones of the nepheline syenite stock. Soil sampling was undertaken on east-west oriented lines spaced 100m north-south apart. The core >0.4% Nb2O5 anomaly is approximately 800m x 300m and is open to the north.
Figure 2: Soil survey (ACME Vancouver: HF digestion ICP for Nb2O5 >2,000ppm) showing a coherent niobium feature open along strike in both directions over the underlying uranium channel ground spectrometer survey.
Figure 3: Soil sample analysis with ranges, mean and median
Historical trenching results over the area previously announced by Mantra Resources Limited in 2007 show significant apparent widths of surface niobium mineralisation and confirm the largescale potential.
The results underpin the advancement towards a maiden drilling programme in the next few quarters. Two trenches of 280m and 192m length were excavated across the niobium soil anomaly and systematically mapped and sampled with significant results of;
- WKCT001/1a
- 145m @ 0.55% Nb2O5 & 119ppm Ta2O5; and 41m @ 0.54% Nb2O5 & 122ppm Ta2O5
- WKCT03
- 192m @ 0.49% Nb2O5 & 158ppm Ta2O5
Trench WKCT01 showed mineralisation greater than 0.5% Nb2O5 at both eastern and western extents of the sampling therefore showing mineralisation is open in both directions across strike.
The very wide zones of mineralisation at Anomaly C within the western flank of the nepheline syenite stock, and their interpreted extensions, provide prime initial drill targets for large tonnage niobium mineralisation.
Trenches were dug to shoulder height for bedrock rock chip sampling, however, often sampling only included saprolitic material due to depth constraints, where 1m samples of saprolitic material were taken, and composited to 5m intervals for analysis.
Rock chips were only taken intermittently by hammer off rounded crystalline outcrop and so cannot be considered as systematic as those that are performed by diamond saw channel sampling.
The next best saprolite response was from WKCT03, some 200m north of the orientation trench which returned analysis of 192m @ 0.49% Nb2O5 & 158ppm Ta2O5.
Figure 4: Wozi Niobium Project – Geological Setting and Historic Results.
Logistics
The Wozi Niobium Project is located 225km north of Malawi’s capital city Lilongwe, and 55km south of the northern region’s main city of Mzuzu. The major trans-Malawi M1 highway passes the project just 2km to the east of the main Anomaly C niobium prospect and provides ready access to these two major cities. The M1 also provides access to the operating Nacala Rail Corridor that passes through Lilongwe allowing access to the east African coast and Indian Ocean shipping routes.
Further results and updates will be reported in due course.
Competent Person Statement
The information in this announcement that relates to geology, exploration and visual estimates is based on, and fairly represents, information and supporting documentation from available historical results. There is no reason to doubt the information, although it requires further verification by Mr. Ric Dawson, a Competent Person who is a member of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Mr. Dawson is a Geology and Exploration Consultant who has been engaged by Kula Gold Limited and is a related party of the Company. Mr. Dawson has sufficient experience, which is relevant to the style of mineralisation, geology and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity being undertaken to qualify as a competent person under the 2012 edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (the 2012 JORC Code). This market announcement is issued with the prior written consent of Mr. Dawson as to the form and context in which the exploration results, visual estimates and the supporting documentation are presented in the market announcement.
References:
ASX Release (MRU) Mantra Enters Uranium Exploration JV’s in Malawi 2 August 2007
ASX Release (MRU) September 2007 Quarterly Report 31 October 2007
ASX Release (MRU) December 2007 Quarterly Report 31 January 2008
ASX Release (MRU) March 2008 Quarterly Report 24 April 2008
ASX release New Niobium Project Acquired in Malawi 22 January 2025
News Release
Date: 4 July 2025| ASX Code: KGD
About the Company
Kula Gold Limited (ASX: KGD) is a Western Australian mineral exploration company with expertise in the discovery of new mineral deposits in WA. The strategy is via large land positions and structural geological settings capable of hosting ~+1m oz Gold or equivalent sized deposits including Lithium.
The Company is advancing projects within the WA goldfields at the Mt Palmer Gold Project at Marvel Loch Southern Cross, the South West region of WA for Lithium and Gold at Kirup and Brunswick – near the world class Greenbushes Lithium Mine, as well Lithium at the Taliah-Nadia-Sasha Prospects at Southern Cross, and Gold and PGE at Westonia (adjacent to the producing Edna May Gold Mine – owned by ASX:RMS). The Company has also added the Wozi Niobium Project in Malawai.
Kula discovered the large 93.3mt Boomerang Kaolin deposit near Southern Cross WA – Maiden resource announced 20 July 2022. This project is in the economic study phase and moving to PE funding or trade JV.
The Company has a history of large resource discoveries with its foundation being the Woodlark Island Gold project in PNG, (+1m oz Gold) which was subsequently joint ventured and sold to (ASX: GPR).
Contact the Company Secretary for more information – +61(08) 6144 0592 or cosec@kulagold.com.au
