“Company-changing”: Aruma sets new multi-mineral path

Aruma Resources is heralding the potentially “company-changing” acquisition of two copper operations in Queensland and a highly-prospective iron oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) and uranium play in South Australia.

As part of a share acquisition agreement with NHM Holdings, the company has picked up the Wilan project near Olympic Dam in SA, while also adding the Fiery Creek and Bortala copper operations near Mt Isa in Queensland. Management says all three acquisitions are owned by subsidiaries of NHM and have the potential for significant copper-gold mineralisation, while Wilan has been identified as hosting paleochannel uranium targets.

Due diligence has already been completed across all three of the new additions, with the official takeover remaining subject to shareholder approval.

The latest acquisitions build on Aruma’s gold, lithium and rare earths operations in Western Australia, including its Saltwater rare earths operation in the Pilbara, its Mt Dean lithium-tantalum play near Norseman and the Salmon Gums gold-rare earths project close to Esperance.

As part of the deal, NHM shareholders will receive 26.5 million fully-paid ordinary Aruma shares and 24.5 million non-transferable and exercisable options once drilling approvals are in place at Wilan, in addition to 28 million options on the report of a 3m drill hit grading more than 600 parts per million uranium oxide or at least 20m exceeding 0.8 per cent copper at one of the new projects.

Management says it has also agreed to pay a 2 per cent net smelter royalty for any minerals extracted and sold from its latest additions.

Aruma Resources managing director Glenn Grayson said: “We are excited about the company-changing potential of this acquisition. We see the combination of a quality exploration asset portfolio in high-demand commodities, located in active tier-1 mineral belts in progressive mining jurisdictions as the clear right-fit for Aruma Resources.”

Both the Bortala and Fiery Creek projects sit in the northern area of the Mt Isa copper-belt in Queensland and are considered underexplored within a region that also hosts significant copper mines including Mount Oxide, Lady Loretta and Capricorn Copper. Management plans to target Bortala with modern exploration techniques to explore for an IOCG system similar to those discovered in the Cloncurry district in Queensland and the Gawler Craton in South Australia.

Mining giant Anglo American holds the majority of the tenure neighbouring Fiery Creek and the ground has been previously held by MIM Holdings – now known as Glencore – in addition to BHP, Rio Tinto and Sumitomo. The company says limited exploration work has been completed at the site with no geophysics and only minimal drilling by Sumitomo.

Wilan covers about 1993 square kilometres on the eastern side of the Gawler Craton in SA, which hosts multiple world-class mining operations including BHP’s Olympic Dam deposit. The company has already highlighted a priority uranium target at its Playa Lake prospect in the west of its SA tenements.

While still waiting on shareholder approval before it can kick off its exploration blitz across its latest acquisitions, Aruma appears to be building a stacked portfolio of projects in prime real estate prospective for key minerals including copper, gold and uranium.

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