Kincora Copper Limited, (Kincora) is pleased to outline plans for the next chapter of copper-gold focused drilling in the Macquarie Arc, Central West New South Wales (NSW) with a first program in partnership with and funded by AngloGold Ashanti to shortly commence at the Nyngan Project.
District-scale series of major and untested magmatic complex targets with in the northern Nyngan "Ace of Spades" region that potentially represent the largest volcano-intrusive complex of the Macquarie Arc. Image Credit: Kincora Copper Limited
Sam Spring, President and CEO of Kincora, commented:
"We are very excited by the potential of the Northern Junee-Narromine belt where we are seeking not to just confirm a new significant porphyry Cu-Au deposit but a new district and series of discoveries. The strategic appeal and value of a new porphyry district has been clearly illustrated in the Vicuña district with corporate activities by BHP and Lundin Mining this month supporting over C$8 billion of value being recognised for a cluster of four new major discoveries.
Recent planning and targeting activities with our partner AngloGold Ashanti has significantly expanded the number of targets, the drilling activities needed and planned to test a series of major and previously undrilled interpreted magmatic complex targets at the Nyngan Project.
Initially we are aiming to test up to eight new major intrusive system complex targets before year end in this first phase program which focuses on the very compelling northern Nyngan "Ace of Spades" region.
Recent neighbouring explorer drilling is also supporting the potential of a series of Macquarie Arc intrusive complexes to the immediate east of the "Ace of Spades" target area along a potentially important common transverse structure providing further encouragement to the potential of a new porphyry district scale opportunity."
Background
The undercover extensions of the renowned Macquarie Arc porphyry copper-gold geology are globally significant exploration opportunities offering new district(s) scale discovery potential. The region has attracted four earn-in and joint venture agreements in the last 12 months supporting potentially over $200 million in exploration and development expenditure.
The most recent notable example of a new emerging globally significant porphyry district is the Vicuña district in the central Andes in Argentina on the border of Chile, which is largely consolidated by Lundin group entities and BHP and situated at over 4000 m altitude .
Within this district NGEX Resources Inc in 2009 held three early-stage exploration projects and, at the time, had a market capitalisation of approximately C$40 million. These same projects are all still at a pre-development phase but have yielded four large-scale discoveries currently valued at over C$8 billion .
In comparison, the central west of NSW benefits from multiple world-class mines, existing infrastructure, high-quality publicly available exploration data and an existing mineral endowment of over 160 million gold equivalent ounces . Regional geophysics strongly indicates that Kincora's Nyngan license hosts the largest volcano-intrusive complex of the Macquarie Arc, which is almost untested, offering new district scale potential.
Kincora, as the early entrant, has secured a district scale position in the interpreted shallow-to-moderate covered core sections of the Northern Junee-Narromine Belt (NJNB) by pegging Nyngan and Nevertire which are now in partnership with AngloGold Ashanti .
The imminent first-ever drilling program at the northern portion of the Nyngan Project will focus on the "Ace of Spades" region and test a wide range of untested, large intrusive-related Cu-Au targets. The program seeks to confirm the potential for a series of new Macquarie Arc intrusive complexes and provide vectors for follow up drilling - see Figure 1.
Subject to permitting, access and weather conditions, the drilling program is anticipated to commence from mid September and will continue until the summer break, comprising up to eight holes for an estimated 4000-5000 meters.
Recent planning and targeting activities with our partner AngloGold Ashanti have significantly expanded the number of targets, the drilling necessary to test a series of major and previously-undrilled interpreted magmatic complex targets at the Nyngan Project. This first program will test the potential for up to eight separate large intrusive complex targets.
The program will comprise cost-effective mud-rotary drilling through the post mineral cover sequence with diamond core drilling upon refusal and testing of the targeted basement.
Kincora is managing the exploration program and will receive a 10 % management fee as the program is funded by AngloGold Ashanti via the up to $50 million earn-in and joint venture agreement for the Nyngan and Nevertire Projects.
These drill targets include an existing high priority large intrusive complex target, which is currently the focus of Fleet Space's ongoing Ambient Noise Tomography (ANT) and gravity geophysical surveys within the northern portion of the Nyngan Project .
The geophysical surveys are seeking to map and refine the interpretation of the paleo-surface and basement rocks and refine modeling of the targeted alteration, intrusions and structures.
Recent neighbouring exploration drilling by Inflection Resources ("Inflection") is further supporting the potential of a series of Macquarie Arc intrusives to the immediate east of the "Ace of Spades" target area at Nyngan. Inflection has announced encouraging results at the Canonba target situated on the license boundary to the Nyngan Project, and located approximately 5 km from its Duck Creek target, which is a Phase 2 designated project with its earn-in and joint venture partner AngloGold Ashanti . The Canonba, Duck Creek and Ace of Spades target areas potentially host important common transverse structures providing further encouragement about the potential of a new district-scale porphyry opportunity.
About the Nyngan Project
The Nyngan license (Exploration Licence 8929) was the first ground Kincora secured in NSW. It is a large 762 km2 direct application tenement granted by the NSW State Government covering a significant portion of the interpreted under cover section of the northern Junee-Narromine Belt . The Junee-Narromine Belt is one of the two largest belts of the Macquarie Arc, Australia's foremost porphyry belt, which hosts a mineral endowment of over 160 million gold equivalent ounces.
The license hosts limited, but encouraging, prior explorer drilling that has been inadequately followed up, with regional geophysics supporting a new potential district-scale setting hosting interpreted, large-scale, intrusive complex targets.
In May 2024, Kincora signed a definitive multiple-phase Earn-in and Joint Venture Agreement (Agreement) over the Nyngan and Nevertire licences with a wholly owned subsidiary of AngloGold Ashanti plc, the world's fourth largest gold miner by production, which has a successful track record for Greenfields discovery success.
AngloGold Ashanti has the right to spend up to A$50 million to earn an 80 % interest through:
- A$25 million of exploration expenditure to earn a 70 % joint venture interest (Phase I) including a minimum A$2 million expenditure obligation, with Kincora the initial operator for a 10 % management fee.
- Completion of a Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) or funding of a further $25 million of expenditure to earn a 80 % joint venture interest (Phase II).
In July 2024, separate to the Agreement with AngloGold Ashanti, Kincora formed a partnership with Fleet Space Technologies Pty Ltd (Fleet Space) to undertake Ambient Noise Tomography (ANT) and gravity geophysical surveys under a research and development grant at the Nyngan Project.
Within the immediate district Fleet Space recently completed the world's largest ANT survey, undertaking a number of project-specific surveys that defined multiple new targets and built a proprietary AI-powered district-scale copper prospectivity map .
The Fleet Space surveys are anticipated to complement Kincora and AngloGold Ashanti's planned exploration and upcoming drilling.