Following an initial announcement at the start of June, Galileo Mining (ASX:GAL) has completed its farm-in and joint venture (JV) agreement with a subsidiary of Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) at the Norseman Project in Western Australia.
The Norseman Project hosts the Castillo discovery and is considered prospective for palladium, platinum, nickel, copper, cobalt, and rhodium mineralisation. The project covers a 255km2 area.
Under the agreement, MinRes holds 30% of the lithium rights at Norseman, while Galileo holds the remaining 70%.
The first tranche of $5 million has been received, bolstering Galileo’s funds with which to conduct exploration work across the Norseman and Fraser Range projects.
MinRes will pay the second tranche of $2.5 million on or before 30 May 2025.
MinRes can increase its stake to 55% by solely funding $15 million of exploration expenditure on the tenements over a four-year period, and further increase its holding to 70% by solely funding expenditure through a decision to mine.
Should MinRes earn a 70% interest, Galileo must either remain part of the JV and contribute to development costs, or convert its interest to a royalty.
Galileo Managing Director Brad Underwood says lithium exploration will now begin at the project, while the existing focus on the potential for nickel, platinum group elements, and gold in the same region will continue.
“Our recent drill results show more prospective palladium and platinum zones within close proximity to geophysical anomalies. Our exploration strategy follows a cyclical pattern with campaign drilling, review and interpretation of results, integrating of new information, and then more drilling,” Underwood says.
“We believe this cycle of exploration activity gives us the best opportunity of making further discoveries in a fundamentally unexplored tenement package. Follow-up drilling is now being planned with the next round of drilling scheduled for August.”
The next round of drilling will focus on the northern Callisto zone as it continues along strike up to 10km north of Callisto.
Galileo Mining is an explorer and developer focused on platinum group elements, nickel, copper, and cobalt in Western Australia.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Galileo Mining
