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Tartana Minerals
Investor Insight
Tartana Minerals is a new copper producer generating strong cash flow, with 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 the backdrop of 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 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 koz 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.
The first and second shipments of copper sulphate were sold during the June 2024 quarter with further shipments are currently being prepared. The 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).Exploration
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 Au 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 of experienced exploration geologists with supporting cash flow from their copper production, they expect to be able 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 who maintain significant leverage to increasing prices.
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 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 targetted 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.
Management Team
Jihad Malaeb – Non-executive 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 through the past few years 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.
Bartrop is also a director of Southwest Pacific Bauxite (HK), a company developing a bauxite project in the Solomon Islands and chairman of Breakaway Research.
Bruce Hills – 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 University of Queensland.
Shuyi (Kiara) Wang
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.
More Wide, High-Grade Intercepts at Kamperman
HIGHLIGHTS
- Assay results received for the final 11 holes (1,254 metres) of a 31-hole (3,834 metre) reverse circulation (RC) drill program at the Kamperman Deposit, part of Astral’s 100%-owned Feysville Gold Project near Kalgoorlie. Best results include:
- 33 metres at 3.75g/t Au from 58 metres including 3 metres at 14.8g/t Au from 75 metres in hole FRC387;
- 10 metres at 1.63g/t Au from 131 metres and 22 metres at 5.21g/t Au from 149 metres including 2 metres at 30.9g/t Au from 164 metres and 2 metres at 12.2g/t Au from 168 metres in hole FRC389;
- 22 metres at 4.44g/t Au from 105 metres including 2 metres at 25.9g/t Au from 121 metres in hole FRC388;
- 6 metres at 12.8g/t Au from 76 metres including 1 metre at 63.4g/t Au from 77 metres in hole FRC385;
- 12 metres at 1.19g/t Au from 18 metres and 24 metres at 1.29g/t Au from 80 metres in hole FRC381;
- 13 metres at 1.14g/t Au from 24 metres in hole FRC384; and
- 20 metres at 0.79g/t Au from 30 metres in hole FRC382.
- RC holes FRC387, FRC388 and FRC389 represent a very successful in-fill test of the deposit, with the three holes averaging 112 gram-metres1.
- RC hole FRC385 targeted high-grade gold mineralisation associated with a zone of silicification intersected in three previous holes. FRC385 targeted a potential high-grade zone oriented in a north-west – south-west orientation and successfully intersected 6 metres at 12.8g/t Au including a 1 metre interval of 63.4g/t Au, confirming geological interpretations.
- Results of the 31-hole RC program were not included in the maiden Kamperman Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) announced on 1 November 2024 of 2Mt at 1.3g/t Au for 83.8koz of contained gold6. The results demonstrate the opportunity for continued MRE growth at Kamperman.
- The RC rig relocated to the Mandilla Gold Project to complete the in-fill program at the Iris Deposit. The RC drill rig is currently completing the final hole of this program and then will commence a 16-hole drill program at Eos testing the extent of fresh rock gold mineralisation adjacent to the Eos palaeochannel deposit.
- Also at Mandilla, a diamond drill (DD) rig has commenced a four-hole/1,600 metre drill program ahead of an update to the Theia MRE, which is expected to be reported in the March Quarter, 2025.
- The first hole of this DD program has already been completed with a significant number of visible gold occurrences observed during the logging process. (Refer to Cautionary Note below).
Figure 1 – Map illustrating the location of the Mandilla and Feysville Gold Projects.
Astral Resources’ Managing Director Marc Ducler said: “Following the recent release of the maiden Kamperman MRE, it is highly encouraging to now be reporting further high-grade in-fill results and a successful drill test of a previously identified high-grade zone. These results highlight the potential for MRE upside at Kamperman.
“The in-fill drill line (FRC387, FRC388 and FRC389) testing the high-grade southern zone at Kamperman returned excellent results including 33 metres at 3.75g/t Au, 22 metres at 4.44g/t Au and 22 metres at 5.21g/t Au. These three in-fill holes averaged a gold accumulation of 112 gram-metres through this high-grade southern zone. This is clearly a very successful in-fill test and bodes well for the potential to upgrade the MRE in this area.
“A potential high-grade gold zone was also tested with hole FRC385, returning a spectacular intercept of 6 metres at 12.8g/t Au from 76 metres including 1 metre at 63.4g/t Au from 77 metres.
“Previous drilling in the vicinity has seen this characteristically silicified zone intersected in three holes with assay results of 3.7 metres at 12.2g/t Au, 5 metres at 3.11g/t Au and 10 metres at 5.04g/t Au including 1 metre at 28.5g/t Au inFRC350.
“This further successful test of an interpreted high-grade shoot adds confidence as to the continuity of this zone and our ability to interpret controls and presents as further upside to the current Kamperman MRE.
“The RC rig is now progressing with the in-fill and extensional programs at Iris and Eos respectively and, once complete, will be returned to Kamperman to complete a 15-hole (2,110 metre) in-fill program.
“Diamond drilling of four in-fill holes at Theia is progressing well. The first hole of this program has already been completed with, pleasingly, a significant number of occurrences of visible gold observed during the logging process.
Plans are underway to secure a second diamond drill rig. This has the potential to increase the rate of progress of both the current four-hole in-fill program at Theia and the geotechnical program required to inform the open pit parameters for the Hestia and Eos open pits in the Mandilla PFS.”
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Astral Resources, 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.
Drilling Commenced at Ferke Gold Project, Cote d’Ivoire
HIGHLIGHTS
- Over 10,000m of drilling planned for December quarter to follow-up previous drilling successes at the Odienné and Ferké gold projects, Côte d’Ivoire
- Ferké project auger drilling has commenced, with a 5,000m campaign covering +9km segment of gold anomalism, targeting extensions to high-grade gold mineralisation confirmed in previous drilling
- Odienné project air core drilling planned to commence over coming weeks to assess priority targets generated in previous quarter’s auger results
- Both projects fully funded for follow-up diamond and RC drilling as part of staged exploration campaigns planned to continue through the 2024/25 field season
Auger drilling has already commenced at the Ferké gold project, with three drill rigs mobilised to cover 9km of reconnaissance drilling along the highly prospective structural corridor hosting the Ouarigue South prospect. This program is designed to delineate extensional targets to open gold mineralisation confirmed in previous drilling that returned:
- 47m @ 3.72g/t gold from surface
- 77.6m @ 2.33 g/t gold from 45.9m
- 91.1m @ 2.02 g/t gold from surface
- 45.3m @ 3.16g/t gold from 45.9m
Concurrently, field work has commenced at the Odienné project, ahead of a planned 5,000m air core campaign that will assess priority targets delineated from the previous quarter’s auger drill results (refer to ASX release dated 20 August 2024). The drilling will be focussed on target delineation within more than 16km of anomalous gold trends located in the same high-strain corridor that hosts Predictive Discovery’s 5.4Moz Au Bankan deposit, as well as the recent discovery by Awalé Resources/Newmont joint venture, which is located on a contiguous land holding.
Many Peaks’ Executive Chairman, Travis Schwertfeger commented:
“Following the end of the West African wet season, we are pleased to have commenced Many Peaks’ 2024/2025 exploration program at our high-grade Cote d’Ivoire projects. Plans for the coming months include our maiden drilling at Ferké, where three auger rigs will drill 5,000m to identify extensional targets of historic holes that include 45.3m @ 3.16g/t and 39.7m @ 3.54g/t gold. We will also drill 5,000m of air core holes at Odienné, following up on extensive gold anomalism identified from drilling we conducted here in the previous season. We look forward to updating investors on our findings as we systematically assess the potential of these highly prospective projects.”
Ferké Gold Project
The Ferké Gold Project (Ferké) comprises 300km2 in a single granted exploration permit in northern Côte d’Ivoire currently undergoing a renewal process and remaining permitted for exploration activity. Ferké is situated on the eastern margin of the Daloa greenstone belt at the intersection of major regional scale shear zones (Figures 1 & 3). The project area has seen substantial previous exploration activity confirming gold mineralisation but with limited follow-up work. Previous work includes high resolution geophysics, soil sampling, trenching, and RC and Diamond drilling (refer to ASX release dated 26 March 2024).
Planned Work
Many Peaks’ initial field programme at Ferké is a 5,000m auger drilling campaign focused on extending the auger coverage at Ferké along an additional 9km of strike extent in the >16km long corridor of soil anomalism referred to as the Leraba trend. The auger campaign is estimated to be completed in 3 to 4 weeks’ time with 400m to 600m spaced lines of sampling and planned 25m spacing between samples. Results are anticipated to refine targeting for follow-up drilling within the extensive gold anomalism which measures over 2km in width in most places (Figure 1).
Figure 1 | Ferké Project proposed auger drilling locations with locations of previously drilling auger, RC and diamond core drilling on regional scale geology.
The planned auger drilling at Ferké is focused on expanding the footprint of gold mineralisation confirmed in previous drilling success. An initial 18 diamond holes drilled into a limited segment of the extensive gold corridor confirmed gold mineralisation at Ferké that remains open in all directions. Results from previous drilling include 45.3m @ 3.16g/t gold from 45.9m drill depth in hole FNDC001 and 39.7m @ 3.54g/t gold from 51.4m in drill hole FNCD008 (refer to ASX announcement dated 26 March 2024).
The current programme is designed to define extensional targets within in the predominantly undrilled north-south trending segment of gold in soil anomalism of the Leraba trend. This may justify expansion of planned follow-up RC and diamond drilling work over the coming field season, and complement drill ready targets already defined on open mineralisation at the Ouarigue South prospect.
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Many Peaks Minerals, 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