AuKing Mining Ltd (ASX:AKN) has boosted its interest in the Koongie Park Joint Venture (KPJV) in Western Australia with Astral Resources NL by 5%, bringing its total to 80% after contributing to the project’s exploration expenditure in the first half of this year.
Astral did not participate in the project funding and correspondingly, its interest in Koongie Park has reduced to 20%.
Significantly, AAR (NYSE:AIR)’s interest in the copper-zinc project will likely fall to below 10% before June 30, 2023, as the Perth-based gold exploration and base metals company has indicated it will not contribute to any expenditure before then.
When that happens, AAR’s interest will automatically revert to a 1% net smelter royalty in line with the terms of the KPJV agreement.
The partners have focused the current Koongie Park drilling at Sandiego and Onedin deposits and more recently, the highly-prospective Emull and Cosmo areas with the aim of updating the existing project resource.
Onedin metallurgy update
A significant metallurgical test-work program is underway on the oxide and transition ore samples discovered recently at Onedin, with results expected within the next 2-3 weeks.
Furthermore, AuKing has received the full amount of its Commonwealth R&D refund of $556,911 on August 11, 2022, which will have no dilutive impact on existing shareholders but is an important contribution to its cash position.
Flagship project
The Koongie Park Copper-Zinc Project in Western Australia’s Halls Creek Region comprises around 500 square kilometres covering more than 40 kilometres of the base metals prospective Koongie Park Formation.
It hosts a JORC resource of 8.9 million tonnes at 1.01% copper, 3.67% zinc, 0.16 g/t gold, 32 g/t silver and 0.77% lead, and counts several significant mining and development operations including Nicholson’s Gold Mine, Panton PGM Project and Savannah Nickel Mine as its neighbours.
Koongie Park has been the subject of significant exploration drilling and analysis since the 1970s, with more than 300 reverse circulation (RC) and diamond drill holes consisting of more than 60,000 metres sunk so far.