Firetail Resources Eyes High-Grade Gold in the US
Firetail Resources (ASX: FTL) is turning up the heat on its exploration ambitions, announcing the acquisition of options over two high-grade gold projects in the United States. The Excelsior Springs Project in Nevada and the Bella Project in South Dakota catapult Firetail into the gold game — and they’re not starting from scratch.
Both projects lie in tier-1 mining jurisdictions with proven endowments. Excelsior Springs sits within the prolific >40Moz Walker Lane Tectonic Zone, while Bella lies just 20km from the historic 42Moz Homestake Mine in South Dakota. The strategy? Piggyback off old riches with modern geology.
Managing Director Glenn Poole is visibly buoyed: “The acquisition of such high-calibre gold assets will complement our current portfolio and leverages off the board’s strengths, enabling us to diversify our exposure to the prevailing strong gold and copper prices. Excelsior Springs represents an advanced, drill-proven opportunity with gold from surface — and mineralisation remains open in all directions.”
Excelsior has already delivered eye-watering intercepts: 51.8m at 4.00g/t gold including 6.1m at 16.30g/t, and 33.5m at 5.35g/t including 10.7m at 15.99g/t. The acquisition deal involves A$200,000 in cash, 32 million shares and a US$5 million spend over five years to earn 80% of the project from Athena Gold Corp, which retains a 20% free-carried interest.
The Bella Project may be even more compelling, with channel sampling revealing bonanza grades up to 343g/t gold and multiple rock chip samples exceeding 100g/t. “The Bella Project sits in the shadow of a giant,” Poole said. “The opportunity to follow up on multiple, extensive, historically producing trends that have not been drilled in the modern era in a district known for its size and scale is hugely exciting.”
Firetail is acquiring 100% of Bella from Badlands Resources for A$700,000 and 17 million shares, with no ongoing expenditure commitments — a strategic grab in a district often compared to WA’s Kalgoorlie Super Pit.
Non-Executive Chair Rob Jewson said the board was impressed with the technical quality and exploration upside of both assets: “At Excelsior Springs, we have a significantly under-explored project located in the heart of a +40Moz gold district. And at Bella, we’ve secured a project analogous to being just 20km from the Super Pit. Our team is very much looking forward to getting on the ground and starting work on both of these high-quality projects.”
Backing the team is Simon Lawson, Firetail’s Non-Executive Director and the geologist-turned-dealmaker credited with transforming Spartan Resources (ASX: SPR). At Spartan, Lawson led the discovery of the high-grade Never Never gold deposit, which helped lift Spartan’s share price by over 470%. That turnaround culminated in a $2.4 billion takeover bid from Ramelius Resources in early 2025.
Lawson is no stranger to challenging orthodox geology and has form for finding gold where others walked past. “Securing gold assets of this quality in two of the premier gold belts in North America will be a major coup for Firetail,” he said. “From my experience at Spartan, the opportunity to discover high-grade ounces close to high-quality infrastructure can be a major value driver — and both of these projects offer that opportunity in spades.”
With a growing North American portfolio — including its Skyline copper-zinc project in Canada — Firetail is building a compelling base metals and precious metals narrative. Exploration activity is ramping up, and shareholders will be watching the next round of drill results with sharpened interest.
If Firetail can repeat any of the Spartan-style success, the story could shift from potential to production in record time.