Regener8 Resources (ASX: R8R) is poised to clear the final hurdle before kicking off its long-awaited exploration at its East Ponton Future Metals project east of Kalgoorlie, after executing a vital heritage agreement.
It comes hot on the heels of the company securing a six-month extension on the option to acquire two new tenements – the Grasshopper and Seven Sisters prospects – considered highly-prospective for critical minerals at the site. Management says it has now also reached a pivotal heritage agreement with Upurli Upurli Nguratja Aboriginal Corporation (UUNAC), enabling it to progress its final land access and cultural heritage surveys, ahead of a maiden drilling program later this year.
As part of the executed deal, the UUNAC will receive compensation of up to 1 million shares in Regener8, which has just 31.5 million shares on issue, staged across the completion of various drilling and mineral resource milestones being achieved. The company will now pursue final heritage surveys alongside program of works permitting, in anticipation of undertaking initial on-ground exploration across the project on the rare earths and uranium-nickel-cobalt targets identified at Grasshopper and Hatlifter.
Execution of the Heritage Agreement with UUNAC is a significant milestone for the East Ponton Project. It is a culmination of joint efforts between the parties over the last 12 months, set against a backdrop of grant of native title, relationship building and moving targets of heritage acts.
Regener8 Resources managing director Stephen Foley
The East Ponton Future Metals project lies 220km east of Kalgoorlie, with the Grasshopper prospect just 40km from a lookalike intrusion known as the Cundalee carbonatite. The rare earths intrusion is considered significant enough to perhaps rival its globally-significant neighbouring Mt Weld project run by the $6.12 billion market-capped Lynas Rare Earths.
Mining giant BHP has previously described the Cundalee intrusion as the “largest, effectively untested carbonatite in the world”.
The project also features an albeit early-stage, but potentially significant in scale, uranium-nickel-cobalt prospect at Hatlifter. Historical drilling at Hatlifter returned an end-of-hole intersection of 3m at 1.3 per cent nickel and 0.61 per cent cobalt.
Regener8 has identified the 17m above this assay to have significant potential to host multi-element mineralisation and believes it has a similarity to the $1.4 billion market-capped Deep Yellow Resources’ Ambassador deposit at that company’s Mulga Rock East project.
Subject to the timing of completed heritage surveys and on-ground target-generation activities, Regener8 anticipates phase one drilling on its potentially jaw-dropping targets to begin in this year’s December quarter.
Given the size of the targets and the execution of the vital heritage agreement, it might not be too long before Regener8 takes up its option over the promising East Ponton Future Metals ground.
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