Estrella Resources has locked up four extra exploration and evaluation concessions to kick off Timor-Leste’s newly-instituted 2021 mining code direct grant process.
The leases, which are particularly prospective for manganese, sit in the Southeast Asian country’s western Baucau Municipality and add to its four exploration licences, 30km to the north-east, that it picked up last year.
To mark the occasion, a ceremonial event was held in Laga, 15km east of Baucau. Joining Estrella’s senior management to celebrate the landmark moment were in-country dignitaries including Rafael de Araujo, president of the petroleum and mining regulator, Autoridade Nacional dos Minerais (ANM), and Jose Gonçalves, the president of Timor-Leste’s State-run mining arm, Murak Rai Timor (MRT).
The new leases, covering 194.4 square kilometres, now make Estrella the biggest concession holder in the nation, with a total landholding of 698sq km. Its portfolio includes seven exploration concessions in partnership with MRT, covering 315sq km, and eight separate, but adjoining reconnaissance permits totalling 382sq km.
The new licenses mark a major milestone as Estrella becomes the first foreign entity to receive concessions through Timor-Leste's new direct grant process, following the introduction of the country's progressive 2021 Mining Code.
Initial evaluations have indicated significant exploration potential, particularly for manganese, with frequent outcropping bedded chert and manganese horizons featuring supergene enrichment at surface. It is regarded by management as some of the best seen across the company’s leases.
Estrella Resources managing director Chris Daws said: “This is a massive step forward in opening up Estrella’s exploration efforts within Timor-Leste. It also represents another major milestone for Estrella. Not only were we the first company to be awarded concessions under the 2023 Tender Process, but we are now the very first company to achieve direct grant of applied concessions under Timor-Leste’s 2021 Mining Code.”
Daws added that he viewed the latest grant as a major vote of confidence from the Timor-Leste Government in Estrella’s ability and commitment to developing a strong mining industry in the country.
A big part of the quick concession grants was the recent formalising of a joint venture (JV) and royalty agreement between MRT and Estrella to explore for manganese, copper and gold, which will also now cover the new leases. Under the deal, the company retains 70 per cent of the JV, while the State-run mining arm remains free-carried for its share.
Estrella is then responsible for all costs until the completion and publication of a positive definitive feasibility study (DFS) relating to a deposit on each of its licenses. At its option, MRT can then elect to transfer its 30 per cent interest back to Estrella and instead receive a two per cent royalty on net smelter in return.
The company is gearing up to fast-track exploration by adding more experienced local geologists to its team. Next on the agenda is mapping, sampling and running geophysical surveys to check out the mineral potential in the new areas. Management is also preparing for an environmental impact study, which will be completed before it kicks off a planned drilling program.
Within Estrella’s existing Lautém prospect to the north, work has continued to further define and unlock the potential of its manganese mineralisation after receiving what it describes as “exceptional” assay results from grab samples taken at several nearby prospects, with grades reaching as high as 57 per cent manganese. Further results are expected shortly, with the company currently in trading halt pending an exploration update.
Estrella seems to have landed on its feet in Timor-Leste. The newly-available quick access to exploration leases and many years of relationship building in country have allowed it to now get on with exploring and hopefully developing what appears to be some remarkably rich deposits of manganese, with possibly associated copper and gold.
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By James Pearson
