With shareholders on the cusp of voting to approve Aruma Resources’ (ASX:AAJ) planned acquisition of copper and uranium projects in Queensland and South Australia, the junior explorer is preparing for a busy second half of the year.
Shareholders will vote on the acquisition at the extraordinary general meeting being held tomorrow (1 August), after which Aruma says the three projects will become its core focus.
The company has already identified priority copper-gold targets at the Bortala Project in the Mt Isa region of Queensland following a review of historical exploration.
Aruma plans to explore for an iron oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) system, similar to those found in the Cloncurry district in Queensland and the Gawler Craton in South Australia.
Historical exploration identified multiple targets, including the priority R9 copper-gold anomaly, Erin, Bull Creek, Nara and E5.
An initial assessment confirmed the presence of an outcropping epithermal-like vein at the R9 target, which previously returned rock chip assays of up to 1.9 grams per tonne gold.
Aruma now plans to follow up these findings after initial field mapping, which focused on the R9 target area, identified areas of outcrop near historic workings, extending the strike length at R9 to about 500m.
Copper mineralisation was observed in rock-chip samples taken by Aruma at the R9 target, which the company says highlights the potential for a broader underlying mineralised system than indicated by historic exploration.
Meanwhile, at the Fiery Creek Project, also in Mt Isa, Aruma is planning to undertake initial on-ground field work comprising mapping and surface sampling programs.
Government-scale gravity and magnetic surveys have already been conducted at the project, and will be followed by a detailed survey designed to understand the structure and alteration systems present within the tenure.
Previous limited exploration undertaken by Anglo American (LON:AAL) and Sumitomo (TYO:8053) returned grades of up 36% and 25.4% copper respectively.
Anglo American owns the majority of the tenure neighbouring Fiery Creek and the ground has been previously held by MIM Holdings (now Glencore), BHP (ASX:BHP), Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) and Sumitomo.
Aruma says the geology of the Fiery Creek Project is interpreted as analogous to the units that host copper deposits within the western fold belt of the Mount Isa Inlier.
The company plans to explore for a stratiform copper deposit and will also assess its IOCG potential.
A number of targets have also been identified at the 1,993km2 Wilan IOCG-Uranium Project located on the eastern side of the Gawler Craton, which is host to multiple major mines including BHP’s Olympic Dam Deposit and Prominent Hill Copper Project.
The project hosts a priority IOCG target and a separate Playa Lake Uranium target, which will be key initial exploration targets for Aruma.
The company, which has a market capitalisation of $2.8 million, is also preparing to conduct further drilling at Salmon Gums Project in Western Australia following the completion of maiden rare earths-focused drilling in the June quarter.
Aruma says multiple “high-grade” clay rare earths of “significant thickness” have been reported. Additional drilling will be aimed at better defining the anomalism and assessing the potential for a JORC-compliant rare earths resource.
The next phase of a systematic soil sampling program will soon begin at the Saltwater Gold Project in Western Australia and a program of works has been submitted to undertake additional drilling at the Mt Deans Lithium Project, also in Western Australia, to provide core for detailed metallurgical testwork.
Aruma reports a cash balance of $2.2 million at the end of the June quarter.
Write to Angela East at Mining.com.au
Images: Aruma Resources
