Aruma Resources continues to kick goals in its endeavours to grow its Australian project portfolio. Two new licences have been awarded at the Melrose project in the Pilbara, growing the prospective stratigraphic trend to 13km in the gold-rich region. Other gold exploration licences at the Scotia South project in Western Australia and the Capital gold project in NSW have also been secured.
The strategic acquisition of two new licences at Melrose brings the company’s total land holdings up to 370 square kilometres located adjacent to the Paulsens gold mine operated by mining giant Northern Star Resources. Over a million ounces of the precious yellow metal have been produced at the mine.
The company has already conducted a preliminary orientation visit to the project area as it eyes a maiden drilling campaign. All of the licences at the project have been recommended for Native Title Determination and field work is anticipated to commence once the process is complete.
The new land additions at Melrose have bumped up the prospective stratigraphic trend north of the Paulsens mine to over 13km strike.
At Scotia South, located around 200km south of Kalgoorlie, Aruma reports that the exploration licence for the project that covers some 202 square kilometres of tenure has now also been granted.
Management says Scotia South exhibits alteration and quartz veining together with a strong arsenic anomaly in the central part of the project area.
The project has never been drill tested however three priority drill targets have been identified by the company. Aruma plans to initially test the targets with regional rotary air blast drilling, with a combined rotary air blast and reverse circulation drilling program projected to follow.
Some 40 square kilometres of the tenure require land access agreements with the local shire and landholders in order for Aruma to gain access to the defined anomalies. The drilling is anticipated to commence after the agreements are secured.
Meanwhile in NSW, the three exploration licences that constitute Aruma’s Capital gold project in the Goulburn region of the Lachlan Fold Belt have also now been granted. Aruma plans an initial reconnaissance exploration program in the current quarter within the 358 square kilometre project tenure.
In recent times the Lachlan Fold Belt has emerged as one of the hottest exploration regions in Australia following the Boda discovery by ASX-listed Alkane Resources in 2019. Hits from the extraordinary gold-copper porphyry discovery include 1,167 metres going 0.55 grams per tonne gold and 0.25 per cent copper.
At the Mt Deans Lithium project near Norseman in WA, Aruma is edging closer to a maiden 12-hole reverse circulation campaign targeting lithium mineralisation together with tantalum and rare earth elements.
A new Programme of Work will be submitted to the WA government ahead of the planned drilling campaign once flora and fauna surveys have been undertaken.
Past exploration at Mt Deans has identified a swarm of pegmatites over a strike length greater than one kilometre according to the company.
The pieces seem to be falling into place for Aruma now across its suite of projects in both WA and NSW.
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By Matt Birney
