The Conversation (0)
Tartana Minerals Limited (ASX: TAT) (the Company), is pleased to provide an update on activities at its Copper Sulphate plant, with a major shipment being completed last week totalling 150 tonnes. The product was sold via the Company’s 100% offtake partner, Kanins International, to one of the largest mining operations in the Northern Territory.
Highlights:
- Significant milestone achieved at Copper Sulphate Pentahydrate (Copper Sulphate) with 150 tonne shipment completed last week with product being sold, via offtaker Kanins, to one of the largest mining operations in the Northern Territory.
Tartana Minerals Managing Director, Stephen Bartrop, commented:
“This shipment marks an important milestone as it represents our largest shipment to-date within the Company’s recent sales to the North Australian mining industry. Improved plant performance has led to increased product quality and which is continuing to build a strong market for our ongoing copper sulphate pentahydrate production.”
Plant Production and Ongoing Activities
Production for the Company’s next shipment, targeted to be approximately 70 tonnes, is well advanced with approximately half the shipment completed and in storage with the remainder to be produced next week.
Plant production is ongoing with a significant improvement in plant reliability and copper sulphate pentahydrate quality which utilises Tartana’s proprietary process for creating free flowing crystal with low levels of impurities.
Ongoing exploration and metallurgical work to support future Copper Sulphate production
As reported in the June Quarterly Report (reported on the 31 July 2024) drilling of metallurgical hole D15 has been completed to a total depth of 300.8 m. This metallurgical hole is providing primary copper mineralisation samples for metallurgical testwork including flotation recoveries, potential concentrate grades and ore sorting. The results of this testwork and the core assaying are well advanced with the results expected shortly.
Figure 1. Truck with the first 48 bulka bags of three loads leaving the Tartana mine site on 27 August – 29 August 2024 totalling 150 tonnes.
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Tartana Minerals Limited, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
TAT:AU
Tartana Minerals Investor Kit
- Corporate info
- Insights
- Growth strategies
- Upcoming projects
GET YOUR FREE INVESTOR KIT
Tartana Minerals
Investor Insight
Tartana Minerals is a new copper producer with strong cash flow and a substantial exploration footprint in a tier 1 mining jurisdiction. Tartana Minerals is creating shareholder value through investment in increasing its existing copper, zinc and gold resources and accelerating exploration of key projects within its highly prospective exploration portfolio. Tartana Minerals presents a compelling investment against a strong macroeconomic environment for copper.
Overview
Tartana Minerals (ASX:TAT) is a copper, gold, silver and zinc, producer, explorer and developer in Far North Queensland. Its flagship project is the 100 percent owned Tartana copper and zinc project which comprises four mining leases located north of Chillagoe. The company’s business model has involved refurbishing an existing heap leach - solvent extraction – crystallisation plant which is located on the Tartana mining leases. The refurbishment and commissioning of this plant is now completed and the company is producing copper sulphate pentahydrate which is sold to offtaker, Kanins International. Copper sulphate is priced on a premium plus percentage of the LME copper price and provides investors with leverage to anticipate increasing copper prices.
The company, formerly known as R3D Resources, changed its name to Tartana Minerals in April 2024. Tartana Minerals is based in Sydney, Australia.
Tartana Minerals has reported the following resources:
- 45,000 tonnes of contained copper at 0.45 percent copper in combined inferred and indicated resources in the Tartana open pit and northern oxide zone
- 39,000 tonnes of contained zinc at 5.29 percent zinc in inferred resources in the Queen Grade project, also located on the Tartana mining leases, and
- 415,000 oz contained gold at 0.34 g/t in inferred resources at Mountain Maid – subject to a mining lease application.
These copper, zinc and gold resources remain open at depth and along strike and the company has designed drilling programs to expand these resources. In particular, the copper mineralisation and potentially the gold mineralisation have scope to be upgraded through ore sorting.
However, the refurbished heap leach – solvent extraction – crystallisation plant utilises existing copper in the ponds and the heaps and these copper sources will be replenished when we commence mining from the open pit.
Copper sulphate contains 25 percent copper metal and payment is based on the LME copper price for the preceding month plus a premium. It is one of the few forms of saleable copper where the copper content receives the full LME price.
Sprinklers operating on the lower heap. Note the presence of copper (blue).
Tartana Minerals completed the acquisition of Queensland Strategic Metals with drilling planned to commence in 2025 that includes the Daisy Bell tin-tungsten project where historical drilling and our mapping have identified a potentially tin-rich zone.
Company Highlights
- Tartana Minerals is producing copper sulphate pentahydrate from its heap leach – solvent extraction – crystallisation plant in Chillagoe with a 100 percent offtake agreement with Kanins International.
- Copper sulphate is priced at a premium plus a percentage of the LME copper price, providing exposure to the booming copper market
- With copper, zinc and gold resources in separate projects and all within granted or soon to be granted mining leases, the company is investigating processing options which can potentially utilise available infrastructure.
- Near-term catalysts include targeted drilling programs to increase the JORC resource and expand on metallurgical test work, increasing the resource grade and estimate
- With the copper sulphate plant fully commissioned and in production, the company is now accelerating its exploration activities. The company has a range of prospects from advanced brownfields projects near existing historical mines to many prospects containing ‘ore grade’ surface mineralisation which have not been tested at depth.
- The company’s exploration portfolio includes the Beefwood/Bulimba, Bellevue, Dimbulah, Cardross and Maid projects. The exploration team is focused on target generation, particularly with the addition of critical minerals within its existing tenure and elsewhere.
Exploration
The Chillagoe region of Far North Queensland is highly prospective with the discovery and development of a number of key projects over the last few decades including Red Dome (2.5 Moz gold), Mungana (1.2 Moz gold), and King Vol (250 kt zinc). These deposits occur along the Palmerville Fault in a similar location to the Tartana Mining leases.
The mining leases at Tartana contain copper, zinc and gold mineralisation but the company also has significant projects which are both east and west of the Palmerville Fault. In the west it has the Cardross and Mountain Maid copper-gold projects and further north it has the Beefwood project. Mountain Maid has gold resources mentioned above and which are open to the south and at depth while the company is finalising a maiden copper resource for the Cardross project.
The Beefwood project comprises a buried geophysical target and surface sampling has recovered samples grading up to 180 g/t gold with no apparent source. Drilling is planned to test this target in the current dry season.
In the east of the Palmerville Fault, the company has the Bellevue/Dry River project, the OK South project and the Dimbulah Porphyry project, all copper projects with historic copper mines and prospects. Like many parts of Far North Queensland, historical exploration has not been systematic and thorough despite many promising expressions of surface mineralisation.
At the Nightflower project, Tartana has upgraded its exploration target after reviewing its earlier estimation, in light of the recent increases in the antimony price. Nightflower is a high-grade silver-lead deposit with previously overlooked significant antimony credits. Nightflower exploration target includes 2.75 Mt @ 364 g/t silver equivalent for 32 Moz silver equivalent to 5.36 Mt @ 270 g/t silver equivalent for 47 Moz silver equivalent (the exploration target is conceptual in nature only and there is no guarantee that further exploration will define a resource). Drilling is now being planned to test the target and upgrade previously identified mineralisation to JORC 2012 reporting standards.
Tartana’s exploration team comprises experienced exploration geologists with supporting cash flow from their copper production, they expect to be able to drill the most promising targets in the short term.
Strong Macroeconomic Environment for Copper
Overall, the macroeconomic environment for copper remains strong. The LME three-month copper price hit US$5.24/lb on May 17, the highest since March 7, 2022, driven by a weaker US dollar, Chinese property stimulus measures, and a short squeeze on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange futures market.
In the near-to-mid term, China’s demand for refined copper is expected to grow, due to better-than-expected performances from key consumer segments, including the power grid, solar installations and electric vehicle and air conditioning appliance sales. On the supply side, the copper concentrate market is expected to remain in a significant deficit due to the estimated delay in the Cobre Panama mine restart but will be partially offset by the higher projected production from smelters in China. As a result, we see further demand growth and supply tightening for the copper market as positive for base metal equities to maintain significant leverage to increase prices.
Management Team
Jihad Malaeb – Chairman
Jihad Malaeb is an experienced entrepreneur across a number of industries, including hospitality and construction, as well as having significant experience in mineral exploration and mining operations – both as an active investor and company director. He currently owns and operates a portfolio of hospitality businesses and real estate across Australia, which have been established over the past 30 years. Malaeb was previously a non-executive director of Critical Resources (ASX:CRR), where he helped steer CRR as one of its largest shareholders and as a board member.
Dr. Stephen Bartrop - Managing Director
Steve Bartrop’s professional experience spans more than 30 years covering periods in both the mining industry and financial sector. With a geology background, Bartrop has worked in exploration, feasibility and evaluation studies and mining in a range of commodities and in different parts of the world. In the financial sector, he has been involved in research, corporate transactions and IPOs spanning more than 20 years, including senior roles at JPMorgan, Bankers Trust and Macquarie Equities.
Bruce Hills – Non-executive Director
Bruce Hills is an accountant and is currently an executive director of Breakaway Investment Group, which operates the Breakaway Private Equity Emerging Resources Fund. Hills is a director of a number of unlisted companies in the mining and financial services sectors including The Risk Board and Stibium Australia. Hills has 35 years’ experience in the financial sector including 20 years in the banking industry primarily in the areas of strategy, finance and risk.
Dr. Alistair Lewis – Non-executive Director
Dr. Alistair Lewis is a successful entrepreneur and highly experienced medical doctor with over 40 years’ experience. For the past 10 years, Lewis has been involved in the management of mining and exploration companies. In 2017, Lewis established Oosen Lewis Mining in North Queensland. He financed the aggregation of a substantial portfolio of gold, tin, tungsten and antimony assets and instigated subsequent extensive exploration programs. These assets now form part of the QSM portfolio.
Michael Thirnbeck – Independent Non-executive Director
Michael Thirnbeck is an experienced geologist with over 25 years in managing numerous mineral development projects in Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and Australia. He has been a member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy since 1989 and holds B.Sc (Hons.) degree from the University of Queensland.
Shuyi (Kiara) Wang – Non-executive Director
Shuyi (Kiara) Wang was appointed a director of Tartana Minerals on July 17, 2024. Wang is an accomplished, emerging leader with a strong academic and professional background. She holds a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Philosophy from The University of Melbourne and is currently pursuing a Juris Doctor at the prestigious Melbourne Law School.
Copper, gold, silver and zinc, producer, explorer and developer in Far North Queensland, Australia
Second LiDAR interpretation identifies additional compelling targets at GDM’s Devils Mountain Gold Project
Highlights:
- GDM purchased the Gympie 2023 LiDAR dataset from the QLD Government, totalling 80 km2, covering EPM 26135, which lies directly SE of the historical gold mining town of Kilkivan.
- A comprehensive LiDAR interpretation was undertaken by specialists GeoCloud Analytics. The interpretation indicated a total of 486 potential historical mine workings, including 40 adits, 16 shafts and 430 other prospecting pits. Many of the old workings were not previously known to GDM.
- The new LiDAR results, combined with previous exploration data has significantly enhanced GDM's dataset, used to identify and prioritise gold bearing targets for further follow-up exploration work.
Chief Executive Officer, Justin Haines, commented:
“This second LiDAR dataset for Devils Mountain has allowed GDM to get a more accurate picture of all of the historical gold mining at Kilkivan prospects area. Shafts and adits are good indicators of the presence of significant gold and base metal mineralisation, because of the effort invested in producing those old excavations. The LiDAR results confirm GDM’s strategy of targeting areas of abundant historical workings and applying modern exploration technologies to those targets”.
Devils Mountain Project
GDM’s Devils Mountain Project comprises 5 x EPMs (17685, 26062, 26135, 26709, 28438) located ~30 km northwest of Gympie (see Figure 1). The Project lies in the Palaeozoic Gympie and Wandilla Provinces of the New England Orogen in southeast Queensland.
Devils Mountain is highly prospective for gold and is host to an abundance of mineral occurrences. In addition to gold, the area contains occurrences of copper, silver, lead, zinc, tungsten and mercury, as well as a number of manganese deposits (see Figure 2). It’s geological setting has many similarities to the nearby Gympie goldfield.
Figure 1: Devils Mountain Gold Project Location Map
Figure 2: Devils Mountain Project Geology and known historical mining prospects
LiDAR Survey Data
LiDAR specialists GeoCloud Analytics purchased part of the Gympie 2023 LiDAR dataset from the QLD Government on behalf of GDM, over an 80 km2 area in the western part of the Devils Mountain Project, covering EPM 26135. The resolution of the raw data is 1 m. GeoCloud Analytics reprocessed the point cloud data to yield a 50cm resolution bare earth Digital Terrain Model (DTM).
The LiDAR survey was flown in 2023 with a minimum average density of 10.5 points per square metre with an average flying height of 1933m above ground level. Details of the survey are provided in the JORC Table 1, see Appendix 1.
A number of new LiDAR images were generated by GeoCloud Analytics in order to extract more information about the project. The enhanced 3D datasets and 2D images produced have facilitated detailed interpretations, allowing the identification of historical mine workings, prospecting pits, geological structures, access tracks and other surface features such as drill pads.
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Great Divide Mining, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
Gidji Drilling Delivers More Gold Results
Miramar’s 80%-owned Gidji JV Project (“Gidji” or “the Project) is located approximately 15 kilometres north of Kalgoorlie and surrounded by multiple gold mining and processing operations, including Northern Star Resources Limited’s Kalgoorlie gold operations (Figure 1).
Miramar’s Executive Chairman, Mr Allan Kelly, said the first results from the current programme confirmed and extended the extensive supergene gold footprint discovered in previous drilling.
“The new results increase the footprint of the high-priority Blackfriars target, which shares several similarities to the multi-million-ounce Paddington gold deposit along strike to the north, including its location at the contact between the Boorara Shear Zone and the Black Flag Beds,” he added.
“This is the first systematic drilling at Gidji after a break of almost 3 years whilst, at the same time, the Australian dollar gold price has risen from $2,500/oz to well over $5,000/oz,” Mr Kelly said.
Current and previous drilling has outlined an extensive area of flat-lying supergene gold across multiple targets at Gidji, despite the stripped weathering profile under the Gidji Paleochannel.
The current drilling programme consists of approximately 180 aircore holes and aims to further refine bedrock drill targets under the younger transported paleochannel sediments.
Drilling commenced before Easter, was suspended due to heavy rainfall and recommenced on 6 May.
Figure 1. Gidji JV Project (yellow outline) and Boorara Shear Zone(white) in relation to Kalgoorlie.
Figure 2. New aircore drilling results (squares) in relation to previous drilling (circles).
Table 1. Significant drill results from the first 34 aircore holes at Gidji JV.Note: results reported above 0.25g/t Au lower cutoff
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Miramar Resources Limited, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
Asra to Secure 100% Ownership of Mt Cutmore at Leonora North Gold Project
Highlights
- Binding Term Sheet executed to acquire the remaining 49% of the Mt Cutmore prospects located at the Mt Stirling Leonora North Project subject to conditions, delivering 100% ownership upon completion.
- Consolidation of ownership aligns with Asra’s strategic focus to unlock further value within the Leonora Gold Project.
- Acquisition will strengthen Asra’s position in the renowned Leonora gold district, proximal to major operating mines and infrastructure.
The Project is situated in the Eastern Goldfields Super terrane of the Yilgarn Craton, where the area is known for orogenic gold deposits. The Project has a JORC (2012) Mineral Resource Estimate totalling 152,000 oz at 1.7g/t Au and is located within close proximity to significant gold mines, including Vault Minerals' 6Mtpa Au King of the Hills mine and Genesis Minerals' 2Moz Leonora and Kookynie operations.1
Asra Minerals Chief Executive Officer, Paul Stephen:
“Securing 100% of the Mt Cutmore prospects within the Project will be a pivotal step for Asra. This consolidation will enhance our strategic footprint in a highly prospective and active gold region.
Following the recently announced raise and with drilling permits in hand, we will be well placed to commence drilling the compelling, high-priority targets. This transaction will streamline our portfolio and provide a clear pathway to unlock value for our shareholders through focused exploration in one of WA’s premier gold districts.”
The Transaction consideration comprises of $200,000 cash and the issue of 75,000,000 fully paid ordinary shares in Asra at a deemed issue price of $0.002 per share (“Shares”) upon satisfaction of the conditions precedent of the Agreement (refer to the summary of the Agreement below for further details). The issue of the Shares is subject to shareholder approval under ASX Listing Rule 7.1, which Asra intends to seek at its upcoming annual general meeting, scheduled to be held in late May 2025.
Figure 1. Mt Stirling Leonora North
Mt Stirling Leonora North Project
The Mt Stirling Leonora North Project is strategically located approximately 40km northeast of Leonora within Western Australia’s Eastern Goldfields. This region is renowned for hosting numerous multi-million-ounce orogenic gold deposits and significant mining operations.
The Project is situated just 5km from Vault Minerals’ (ASX:VAU) major 6Moz King of the Hills mine and its recently expanded processing hub, which is the largest in the Leonora district. It is also proximal to Genesis Minerals’ (ASX:GMD) extensive 2Moz Leonora operations. The Project currently hosts a JORC (2012) Mineral Resource Estimate totalling 152,000 oz at 1.7g/t Au. This Mineral Resource Estimate provides a valuable foundation for the Project and future exploration efforts aimed at expansion.
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Asra Minerals Limited, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
Tartana Minerals Investor Kit
- Corporate info
- Insights
- Growth strategies
- Upcoming projects