Estrella strikes rich Timor-Leste manganese and eyes limestone push

Estrella Resources has shifted its Timor-Leste campaign into top gear after trenching unearthed primary manganese with uber-rich visual estimates at its Ira Miri project. The company has sent samples to Jakarta for testing and expects to receive assay results in about six weeks.

Meanwhile, the company is also priming the rigs for a maiden drill campaign at its billion-tonne Werumata limestone project, with market testing, environmental approvals and heavyweight site visits all on the cards - underscoring a rapidly maturing exploration story.

Estrella has so far mapped manganese outcrops along 450 metres of strike at Ira Miri, which is still open in every direction. It is also preparing to haul out a 30,000-tonne bulk sample for testing by potential buyers from India, Japan, China, Malaysia, Australia, Europe, the United States and Africa.

Fresh trenching revealed in-situ manganese beds in the Noni Formation, which were supercharged with a secondary boost of remobilised boulders and detrital ore, to top off a geological double-shot of mineralisation.

According to Estrella, visual estimates show more than 80 per cent manganese-iron oxides in the primary beds and the enriched blanket above them, with only small amounts of attached carbonate and silica impurities observed.

The company plans to dig more trenches to chase the mineralisation along strike and line up a fresh wave of targets ahead of a new drill program.

Having wrapped up its 16-hole stratigraphic diamond drilling program, aimed at mapping the terrain, Estrella says it is ready to zero in on the primary manganese at Ira Miri. The company plans to fire angled holes into the main lodes before following them into the weathered zone to tap into the richer supergene mineralisation.

The first drill campaign will home in on the northern and southern outcrops of the 450m strike, before swinging back to fill the gaps and map the full extent of the secondary and detrital mineralisation. 

To nudge the exploration program along, the company is also considering using some airborne geophysics to create inverted, 3D imaging.

To maintain momentum, Estrella’s drilling contractor CoreSearch has brought in extra drillers and offsiders to run the rig on a 24/7 basis, which should improve the project’s monthly drilling numbers.

Estrella Resources managing director Chris Daws said: “Trenching has confirmed primary manganese mineralisation within the Noni Formation and highlighted significant secondary enrichment. With additional geological expertise now on the ground and a second crew engaged to keep the drills turning, we are well positioned to advance both Ira Miri manganese and Werumata limestone projects at pace.”

While the manganese story is already shaping up as a potential company-maker, Estrella has kept its eye on the ball at the company’s massive Timor-Leste limestone prospect at Werumata in Baucau. Environmental applications for drill permitting are due to be finalised this week, which will unlock a 40-hole reverse circulation and diamond tail program to nail down a JORC-compliant resource.

To showcase its future production ambitions, Estrella also hosted representatives from Saudi-based trading house World Metals and Alloys and Indonesian mining and energy services outfit PT Raka Energi Mandiri (REM) on a tour of Werumata alongside Estrella’s Timorese joint venture partners Murak Rai Timor. 

The tour coincided with a potentially game-changing deal recently signed between Estrella and REM, which granted the latter exclusive marketing and off-take rights to Estrella’s high-grade calcite-rich limestone from its vast concessions. The agreement could see up to a whopping 500 million tonnes of limestone shipped out of Timor-Leste over the next five years. 

For a company still in the relatively early stages of its Timor-Leste game plan, Estrella has kicked some significant goals, with high-grade manganese mineralisation now identified across almost 500m of strike and a fast moving monster limestone project on the boil.

If the manganese grades hold up in the lab and the bulk sample finds favour with international buyers, punters will likely start paying serious attention to this small-cap explorer with big ambitions.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@wanews.com.au

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au