The Sandstone Gold Project in Western Australia comes to FirstAu from Complete Prospecting carrying a substantial historical record of reverse circulation drilling and no established mineral resource. That combination shapes the entire deal. The case for the acquisition rests on what the data shows once FirstAu validates it, not on what the ground has already proven.
FirstAu signed a binding agreement to take on five tenements across the Sandstone gold district: four prospecting licences and one exploration licence. The consideration has three parts. An A$350,000 cash exclusivity fee (approximately US$252,486) is paid upfront. A$400,000 in FirstAu shares follows, priced on the volume-weighted average over the 15 trading days before the completion date, subject to shareholder approval. The deferred portion, A$150,000, is a different matter. It only becomes payable if FirstAu announces an inferred or higher mineral resource of at least 10,000 ounces of gold at a minimum grade of 0.5 grams per tonne within five years of completion. If the milestone is not reached, the payment lapses.
The project spans approximately 3.5 kilometres of the Mayard Greenstone Belt and includes exposure to the Crook Well Greenstone Belt. Geological mapping identifies zones where multiple faults intersect the north-south strike of the Mayard Terrane, a configuration considered significant for local mineralisation. Historical reverse circulation drilling at the Harmonic and Creasy prospects constitutes the primary dataset. Executive chairman Daniel Raihani said the combination of prospective geology and that historical drilling database was what drew FirstAu to the project. Following completion, the company plans to validate the existing data and work toward defining a maiden JORC-compliant mineral resource.
The counterargument here is straightforward. No resource estimate exists, completion depends on shareholder, regulatory, and third-party approvals, and FirstAu has committed to a minimum A$250,000 drilling programme within 24 months. Any shortfall against that figure must be paid to Complete Prospecting in cash on request. The risk is that the inherited dataset, however extensive, proves insufficient to support the 10,000-ounce threshold at the required grade.
On balance, FirstAu is paying a defined upfront cost for exploration optionality, with the deferred economics structured to remain contingent on delivery. The line to watch is how quickly the company can work through the Harmonic and Creasy data and whether that work supports a compliant mineral resource within the five-year window.