With a leading global investment company recently becoming a significant shareholder and a healthy cash position to fund an aggressive exploration program targeting high-grade lithium deposits in Namibia, Auroch Minerals Ltd is well positioned for growth.
Helikon lithium mines and Navachab gold mines
In a significant sign of Auroch’s potential, London and New York listed lithium focused investment company Rare Earth Minerals recently took up a 7.7% stake in the company for A$650,000.
According to chief executive officer Dr Andrew Tunks, a geologist with over 25 years of experience in the minerals industry, this investment from
the leading global investment company represents a major milestone for Auroch.
“To current and potential shareholders, I would say the company is well funded and has a tight capital structure which has meant we are attractive to project vendors for quality projects,” he said.
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Funds from the share buy-up will bring Auroch’s cash position to $6.4 million after the raising, which will go towards an aggressive exploration and development program, targeting high-grade lithium pegmatites which are similar to those that have been successfully commercialised in Western Australia over the last three years.
Auroch is focusing these activities over five new applications for Exclusive Prospecting Licences (EPLs) in the Karibib area of Namibia, which the company recently applied for. The new license applications are the result of a large scale global search for presence of significant historic lithium production, identification of untested pegmatites which are indicative of potential lithium/ tantalum mineralisation and documented lithium occurrences in or adjacent to the licence areas.
Auroch is also seeking a low-risk political environment with stable government including a well-developed mineral law and social licence to explore, importantly Namibia fits all of these key criteria.
Most importantly, the areas in which the five new tenements have been selected have met all relevant criteria and are located within close range to Namibia’s two historical lithium production mines. Sampling in these areas has not yet been conducted, but significant desktop research indicates that with current technological advancements and modern exploration, these areas are highly prospective.
Tunks said Auroch selected the Karibib area of Namibia to focus its lithium exploration activities after an extensive and exhaustive search.
“Over 90% of Namibia’s lithium production has come from the Karibib area, however there has been little modern exploration and almost no drilling of the many known lithium occurrences, making this an exceptional exploration opportunity,” he said.
“As an added extra, there is also the possibility for gold exploration success in the two northern licences that host similar geology to nearby multimillion ounce Navachab gold mine.”
Auroch also holds 100% of two prospecting licenses in Western Australia. They include the Beete gold project and the Peninsula gold project. Recent gold exploration results in both Norsemanbased exploration sites yielded strong results.
The best results included 13.3g/t gold, 13g/t gold, 8.76g/t gold and 8.59g/t gold from a total of 22 rock chip samples.
“The positive results we have received from the rock chip sampling are encouraging and worthy of further follow up and we are continuing to investigate the potential of these well mineralised veins,” Tunks said.
“With our portfolio of lithium and gold assets, we have the potential to create value for investors through exploration and to monetise the value
of these assets as we add value to them through further drilling.”
