Highlights

  • Auric signed a binding term sheet to acquire the company holding the Iron Maiden Gold Project.
  • Iron Duke and Surprise contain historical estimates totalling 68,500oz of gold under JORC 2004.
  • Approximately 75% of the historical estimate lies within 50 metres of surface.
  • The company plans validation, infill and extension drilling before updated resource work and Mining studies.

Auric Mining Limited (ASX:AWJ) is expanding its prospective gold pipeline with a proposed Acquisition near Norseman in Western Australia. The Iron Maiden Gold Project contains the Iron Duke and Surprise deposits, offering historical drilling information and potential future ore sources as Auric progresses work on its Burbanks processing facility.

The Deal That Adds a Fourth Asset

Auric executed a binding term sheet to acquire all shares in Boomerang Mining Capital, the company holding Iron Maiden. The project lies about five kilometres south of Norseman and approximately 180 kilometres from Burbanks. Subject to due diligence, the initial acquisition consideration is AUD 1mn cash at completion, with Auric also set to reimburse AUD 3mn in Loan funds used to acquire the project. Completion conditions remain relevant: the agreement does not mean the acquisition has already closed.

A Historical Resource With a Key Qualification

Iron Duke and Surprise host historical estimates totalling 1.4Mt at 1.5g/t gold for 68,500oz, originally prepared under JORC 2004. These figures are not current JORC 2012 Mineral Resources. Auric must carry out additional validation and evaluation before any updated estimate can be reported under the newer standard, and the quantities or grade may change. The company has highlighted that around three-quarters of the historical estimate sits within 50 metres of the surface.

Previous Drilling Shows Areas to Revisit

Historic Iron Duke results include intercepts of 11 metres at 22.00g/t gold from 39 metres, 19 metres at 10.51g/t from 28 metres and 10 metres at 19.85g/t from 16 metres. Much of the older drilling was relatively shallow. The deposits remain open along strike and at depth in the historical interpretation, leaving targets for validation and extension. Individual past intercepts are exploration results and cannot be used to imply future production grades.

A Position Along the Mt Henry Shear

Iron Maiden lies on the Mt Henry structural corridor near historic workings and other gold deposits. Auric has identified potential extensions, repetitions of mineralised bands and structurally controlled higher-grade targets for testing. Its planned work includes infill drilling, exploration beyond previous resource boundaries, revised geological interpretation and resource estimation. Mining studies would follow to evaluate whether the deposits could support future development.

How It Connects to Burbanks

Auric is working to re-establish Burbanks as a 600,000-tonne-per-year processing hub. Additional deposits could, if technically and commercially viable, provide longer-term feed options. That remains a strategic objective rather than a scheduled mining commitment for Iron Maiden. The next concrete steps are completion of the proposed transaction, drilling and conversion of the historical information into a modern resource assessment.