Godolphin drills into gold riches and rare earth rewards as Lewis Ponds heats up and Narraburra shakes up the magnet metals race in NSW

Godolphin Resources is sharpening its exploration focus at a time when market appetite is realigning toward precious and critical minerals. At the RIU Sydney Resources Round-up 2025, managing director Jeneta Owens outlined how the junior explorer is capitalising on its extensive landholding in New South Wales to pursue scale, grade and strategic upside across both gold and rare earths.

With four JORC 2012 resources under its belt and tenements sprawled across the mineral-rich Lachlan Fold Belt, Godolphin’s portfolio spans precious metals, base metals, and rare earth elements. Yet it is the Lewis Ponds and Narraburra projects that are now front and centre.

“We really are on the steps of a giant discovery at Lewis Ponds,” Owens told delegates. “We started a diamond drilling programme from November through to the end of January and were able to intersect the thickest intercept of the Torpes Lode we’ve seen to date. The grades are similar to, if not better than, the Spicer’s Lode—which is our highest-grade zone.”

Rich Gold-Silver Polymetallic System

Located 15 kilometres east of Orange, the Lewis Ponds project is anchored in a historically mined silver field and now boasts a 6.2 million tonne inferred resource grading 2.0 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, 80g/t silver, 2.7 percent zinc, 1.6 percent lead and 0.2 percent copper. That equates to a gold equivalent grade of 5.5g/t—or as Owens put it, “pretty darn rich”.

In total, the deposit contains 398,000 ounces of gold and 15.9 million ounces of silver, with mineralisation remaining open at depth and along strike.

Owens stressed the strategic move to reframe Lewis Ponds as a gold-silver project rather than a base metals play: “All of the historic work had focused on producing clean zinc concentrates—historically at 66% purity—but we’ve looked at it from a precious metals perspective.”

To de-risk future development, Godolphin is progressing metallurgical test work using fresh core samples. The flowsheet in consideration includes multi-stage flotation to separate zinc, copper-gold, and lead-silver concentrates, each yielding full payment under conventional offtake terms.

IP Data Points to Untapped Extensions

Complementing the metallurgy is a reinterpretation of historic induced polarisation (IP) data, which has revealed a 1.6-kilometre southern extension of the chargeability anomaly coincident with sulphide mineralisation.

“The IP signature to the south has not been adequately drill tested,” said Owens. “The previous survey only reached 90 metres deep. We’re planning a new deep-penetration IP program to look well below that and guide drilling.”

Three new southern and one northern target zones have been identified, potentially expanding the resource envelope and offering significant near-term news flow.

The company’s exploration strategy now includes infill drilling to upgrade the resource classification and expand into areas like the recently intersected Torpes Lode and lesser-known Quarry Lode.

Rare Earths Rebound: Narraburra’s Clay-Hosted Advantage

Alongside its gold and base metal ambitions, Godolphin is preparing for renewed momentum in the rare earths sector—pivoting off the potential of its Narraburra REE project near Temora.

Having delivered a maiden resource in 2023, the project now boasts 94.9Mt at 739ppm TREO (total rare earth oxides), including a 20Mt high-grade core at 1,079ppm using a 600ppm cutoff.

More importantly, recent test work has shown Narraburra’s clay-hosted mineralisation can produce a high-value mixed rare earth carbonate (MREC) product.

“What we’ve been able to demonstrate is that we can take ore all the way through to a saleable MREC product,” Owens explained. “It’s high in heavy rare earths like terbium and dysprosium—among the highest ratios in Australia—and 57% of our MREC is made up of TREO. That’s exceptional.”

The latest metallurgical results show leach recoveries of up to 96% for neodymium, 92% for praseodymium, and over 90% for both terbium and dysprosium, with low acid consumption of just 1.2kg per tonne of ore. The MREC composition—produced at ANSTO Minerals in Sydney—positions Narraburra for offtake discussions in a sector where strategic partners are prioritising magnet-heavy rare earths.

In comparative charts presented at RIU Sydney, Godolphin’s product ranked higher in value than peers in both Australia and Brazil, due to its elevated heavy rare earth content and minimal impurities.

Cash-Backed and Drill-Ready

Godolphin enters the second half of 2025 with $1.83 million cash on hand and no debt. A $1 million placement completed earlier this year is supporting upcoming exploration milestones, including metallurgical results from Lewis Ponds, new IP survey data, an updated resource estimate, and follow-up drilling.

The company’s six-month plan includes not only the continued development of Lewis Ponds and Narraburra but also early-stage programs at other 100%-owned REE and copper-gold assets such as Cambrai, Trungley and Yeoval.

“Sentiment around rare earths is turning again, and we’re well positioned to capitalise,” Owens said in closing. “But gold’s always a safe haven—and with the kind of grades we’re seeing at Lewis Ponds, we’re excited about what’s ahead.”