Gold and copper explorer Orange Minerals has taken a stake of almost 7 per cent in fellow minerals company Godolphin Resources, praising Godolphin’s “exciting” projects and experienced management.
Orange and Godolphin have shared interests through the Calarie gold project, north of Forbes in Central NSW.
West Perth-based Orange, with assets in NSW and WA, spent $600,000 to snap up about 7.6 million shares in Godolphin’s recent share placement.
That placement raised about $1.6 million from the issue of almost 19 million shares at 8.5 cents each.
Orange now owns about 6.8 per cent of Godolphin.
Godolphin has several exploration projects in 3200 square kilometres of tenements in the Lachlan Fold Belt in central west NSW.
They include Lewis Ponds, Yeoval, Copper Hill East and Narraburra — a recently acquired rare earths minerals project.
The area is a rich gold-copper and rare earths province where Orange also holds tenements in addition to its interests in WA’s eastern Goldfields.
This week Godolphin announced its maiden drill hole at the explorer’s Cyclops prospect on the Yeoval tenement returned multiple zones of high-grade copper in addition to gold, silver and molybdenum mineralisation.
Orange noted Godolphin’s “proven” exploration team had extensive experience, particularly in that specific area.
Godolphin’s tenements centre on the Lachlan Transverse Zone, one of the key structures that control the formation of copper and gold deposits within the belt.
Its tenements include the McPhillamy’s gold hosting Godolphin Fault and the Boda gold and copper-hosting Molong Volcanic Belt.
Orange’s management says its stake in Godolphin, an earn-in joint venture partner on the Calarie project, is a strategic investment.
Calarie comprises a mining lease and two exploration licences, together creating an earn-in JV with Godolphin whereby Orange can earn up to 70 per cent of the project by spending $1.5 million.
Orange says it is currently focused on the Calarie and Wiseman Creek projects in NSW and its Majestic and Kurnalpi tenements in WA’s eastern Goldfields and has aggressive exploration programs.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
