Estrella Resources has taken a major step towards developing the company's massive Werumata limestone project in Timor-Leste, converting a hefty 274 million tonnes of its resource into the higher-confidence JORC indicated category.
The significant upgrade now sits alongside a further 259 million tonnes in the inferred category, for a combined total project resource of 533 million tonnes of limestone. The de-risking move provides a notably stronger footing for a scoping study which management says is now being finalised.
The company first tabled a maiden inferred resource of 621 million tonnes of limestone at Werumata in mid-May, based on a program of 33 reverse circulation (RC) drill holes for 2804 metres and nine diamond holes for 913m. That drilling delivered broad, high-purity intersections up to 87m deep in the target Baucau Limestone and up to 59m in the underlying Batu Putih chalk unit.
Management says it was able to identify a rapid, low-cost path to upgrade a portion of its resource by conducting density analysis on the existing drill core, a move that has now clearly paid dividends by shifting a massive tonnage into the indicated resource classification.
Importantly, the project's limestone has been identified as potential direct-shipping material requiring only crushing and screening, offering a potentially straightforward route from quarry to customer, subject to further technical and commercial confirmation.
Estrella is now turning its attention to commercialising its mammoth limestone resource, having already secured a binding master agreement with Indonesian mining and energy services group PT Raka Energi Mandiri (REM) in May last year, granting REM exclusive marketing and offtake rights for up to 500 million tonnes of high-grade limestone over five years, subject to definitive arrangements.
The company has also hosted representatives from Saudi-based trading house World Metals and Alloys, alongside REM and Timor-Leste state-backed joint venture partner Murak Rai Timor, on a site tour to showcase Werumata's production and export potential.
Estrella Resources managing director Robert Mencel said: “This is an important milestone for Werumata, with just over half of the Mineral Resource now classified as Indicated, including approximately 70% of our higher-quality Product 1 limestone. The upgrade provides greater confidence in the resource and a stronger foundation as we progress discussions with potential customers and evaluate development and export opportunities."
While the limestone project forms a solid foundation for Estrella, the company is also pushing ahead with its Ira Miri manganese project, where management has previously said its objective is to define a JORC-compliant resource of more than 2 million tonnes. The company recently excavated a 27,000-tonne sample from an open pit at site to identify material whose grades mirror previous high-grade drill intercepts of up to 8.05m assaying 53 per cent manganese.
In a positive commercial step last month, Estrella received conditional approval from Timor-Leste’s national minerals authority to export a 100-tonne trial parcel of high-grade manganese. The material was sold at commercial rates to an Indonesian customer for use as trial feed in a manganese smelter. An application to export the much bigger shipment is currently with the Timorese Government for assessment.
Beyond its development-ready assets, Estrella is also leveraging its first-mover advantage in what management describes as the “virtually unexplored region” of Timor-Leste to hunt for copper and gold.
In September, the company was awarded two new 50-square-kilometre exploration licences it considers prospective for the yellow and red metals. The Covalima licence covers the Lolotoi Complex, an area characterised by intense folding and shearing, which Estrella says has potential for orogenic-style gold deposits and possible intrusion-related copper.
The second new licence, Oecusse, covers the Manamas Volcanics, where alluvial gold occurrences have been recorded. The company believes the alluvial gold was shed from primary mineralisation, potentially hosted in quartz veins within large fault zones visible in satellite and geophysical imagery, providing a suite of promising targets for future drilling.
With a scoping study on its massive, significantly de-risked limestone resource nearing completion and its first manganese sales revenue already in the kitty, Estrella's multi-commodity resource operation seems to be steadily growing from the ground up. Throw in a swag of untested gold and copper targets begging for the drill and the company looks well placed to generate a steady stream of news flow as its emerging minerals frontier gathers momentum.
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By Doug Bright
