OZ Minerals has teamed up with Resolution Minerals to explore for base metals at the latter’s Benmara project in the Northern Territory.
As part of the farm-in and joint venture agreement, OZ Minerals can earn up to 75 per cent in Benmara. To earn a 51 per cent interest in Benmara, the major copper–gold miner must spend $1 million over an initial two-year period, and a further $3 million across the ensuing three years.
If OZ Minerals reaches this point, a Benmara joint venture agreement will be formed. If the company doesn’t satisfy the $4 million spend within the five-year period, Resolution will retain a 100 per cent interest in Benmara.
Resolution may retain a 49 per cent interest in the project if it elects to participate from year six. If not, OZ Minerals can earn a 75 per cent interest in Benmara by spending $1 million per year over a further five-year period and deliver a positive final investment decision.
Resolution chief executive officer Christine Lawley said the agreement highlighted the company’s exploration efforts.
“The new farm-in and JV (joint venture) agreement with OZ Minerals is validation of Resolution’s exploration strategy, which identified the potential for large-scale base metal deposits analogous to the world-class McArthur River mine in this under-explored region during the 2021 field season,” she said.
“In particular, the results of our 2021 RC (reverse circulation) drilling program and air-borne VTEM (versatile time domain electromagnetic) geophysics survey identified large-scale untested conductors and thick packages of up to 200m thick reductive shale units.
“These results proved the Benmara project has a geological setting equivalent to other regional deposits such as the McArthur River mine, Walford Creek and the Century mine.”
This is the second agreement OZ Minerals has established with Resolution in the Northern Territory. In August 2021, the Adelaide-based miner entered into a joint venture with Resolution to explore the Wollogorang copper project.