The project, in the northeastern part of the Yandal-Millrose Greenstone Belt, brought a 6-million-tonne resource grading 1.8g/t gold for 346,000 ounces into Strickland’s portfolio. The project’s proximity to Northern Star Resources’ Jundee operation, about 30-40 kilometres to the east, underscored the strategic value of the largely underexplored asset.
The acquisition was part of a broader consolidation strategy, funded by a $12 million capital raise, which positioned Millrose as a key asset adjacent to future acquisitions.
Drilling campaigns in 2022 led to a significant sale of Millrose to Northern Star for an impressive $61 million in June 2023, reflecting a substantial return on the company’s initial investment and highlighting Millrose’s role in elevating Strickland’s financial and reputational standing.
Following the Millrose acquisition, Strickland quickly expanded its holdings in the Yandal area with the acquisition of the Horse Well gold project around the time of the company’s mid-2021 consolidation phase.
Horse Well became a flagship asset due to its location along the major regional-scale Celia Shear Zone, a geologically significant structure. Initial Horse Well exploration soon revealed a 5.72Mt resource grading 1.4 g/t for 257,000 ounces, across prospects such as Palomino, Warmblood and Filly.
A third key acquisition, Yandal East, was completed in July 2021. Acquired in a joint venture from Renegade Exploration, it lies immediately south of Horse Well and added 60km of untested strike along the Celia Shear Zone, extending Strickland’s total tenure to more than 100km.
Strickland’s planned drilling kicked off in September 2021, aimed at fathoming the area’s potential, and it later identified prospects such as Cowza and the broader Yandal East ground as high-priority targets.
The Yandal tenure grew to span 1780 square kilometres. As the company leveraged the project’s underexplored eastern flank, recent discoveries such as the Dusk ’Til Dawn prospect for 108,900 ounces of gold, saw it emerge with a strengthened balance sheet, a combined inferred 400,400-ounce gold asset and a promising new frontier.
The Yandal acquisitions collectively and progressively transformed Strickland’s fortunes, ultimately setting the stage for Strickland’s latest $45 million sale of Yandal to Gateway. The deal opens another chapter of prosperity for the company.
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