Diversification can be key to a profitable mining and exploration strategy. While there’s no shortage of companies that have experienced great success by focusing on a single commodity, there’s always an element of risk to that approach. There is always the risk that certain commodities will fall in price whilst others rise. Augustus Minerals, a newly listed exploration company on the ASX (AUG) is cognizant of this fact. An exploration company based in Western Australia, Augustus has acquired a 100-percent interest in a land package covering some 3,600 square kilometers in Western Australia’s Upper Gascoyne region. Although traditionally known as a source of base metals, gold and uranium, the Gascoyne is rapidly emerging as a prime target for rare earths and lithium discoveries.
As an early mover to the region, Augustus’s vast landholding is highly prospective for lithium, rare earths, copper and gold. Its Ti-Tree project contains 85 kilometers of the Ti Tree and Mingabar shear zones, with extensive, untested, multi-element mineralization and surface anomalies.
The Gascoyne region is a large emerging critical mineral province with several deposits having been discovered in the last few years. These include multiple Ironstone REE discoveries by Dreadnought Resources (ASX:DRE), Hastings Technology’s (ASX:HAS) Yangibana Ironstone REE project and Lanthanein Resources’ (ASX:LNR) Lyons Ironstone REE project, as well as a large lithium discovery at Delta Lithium’s (ASX:DLT) Yinnetharra location.
Directed by a highly experienced management team with extensive knowledge about mining and exploration in the Gascoyne, Augustus’s exploration program will focus on more than 50 priority targets already identified by the company. These include potential lithium bearing pegmatites, REE-rich ironstones and shear/porphyry-hosted copper systems. Thus far, the company has completed multiple geophysical surveys and collected more than 15,000 soil samples.
Company Highlights
Augustus Minerals is an Australian exploration company focused on the highly-prospective Gascoyne region of Western Australia. The company has 100 percent ownership of a land package covering 3,600 square kilometers. Augustus has identified multiple high-priority lithium, rare earth and copper targets throughout its project, with strong mineralization intersected at multiple locations across multiple commodities.Augustus’s leadership team has the benefit of significant local knowledge regarding exploration of the Gascoyne province.
Key Asset
Ti Tree Project
Situated in the Shire of Upper Gascoyne and the Shire of Carnarvon, the Ti Tree project displays significant exploration potential for a number of different mineralised styles as well as possibly, multi-commodity discoveries. Spanning a contiguous 3,600 square kilometers, it also has the distinction of being one of the largest properties in the region. Augustus Minerals maintains 100 percent ownership over Ti-Tree, which intersects along the shear of the same name.
The company has identified several high-priority drilling targets along the Ti-Tree and Mingabar structures ready for reverse circulation, diamond or air core drilling.
Highlights:
Emerging Geological Province: The Gascoyne region displays highly prospective geology and has been the site of multiple rare earth and lithium discoveries in recent years, but has experienced limited historic exploration — making it a prime opportunity for Augustus Minerals. Multiple Commodities: Augustus has identified more than 50 significant lithium, rare earth and copper targets. Many of these high-quality targets are ready for drilling. Size and Speed: The Ti Tree Project consists of a single coherent block of tenements covering 3,600 square kilometers with 85 kilometers of strike along the Ti-Tree Shear. As an early mover in the region, Augustus was able to gain a considerable advantage in securing this project, into which it has thus far invested $5 million. Fertile Geology: Augustus’s investment displays the same geology as multiple highly successful neighboring discoveries.Mineralization: Current mineral resource targets include: 27 rare earth targets across 65 kilometers of strike. All targets display strong thorium radiometric signatures. Multiple mafic intrusions with copper-nickel-PGE (platinum group elements) mineralization. The copper resource is both shear-hosted and porphyry-related. Elevated lithium stream samples over 10 kilometers of strike length. The target area displays the same geological host rock as the Yinnetharra lithium discovery. A narrow, shear vein-hosted gold occurrence with anomalous mineralization displayed in several surrounding areas. The area, known as the Bassit Bore, outcrops at the surface, where visible gold is readily identifiable in hand specimens. Samples collected over 600 meters returned very high gold values.
Management Team
Andrew Reid – Managing Director
Andrew Reid has over 30 years’ experience in the resources industry, with 20 years of expertise in mine management, geology and mining engineering concentrating on open-pit and narrow vein underground mining. Previously, Reid was COO at Hastings, developing the Yangibana Rare Earths project. Prior to that, he held COO positions with Finders Resources and BCM International. He spent 15 years working across Africa, which included being part of operational teams developing the Paladin Energy Uranium Mines in Namibia and Malawi.
Reid was the general manager of the large Kevitsa polymetallic mine (between 2011 and 2014) in the Arctic, taking it through construction, commissioning and operations. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in geology, with further postgraduate qualifications in mining engineering and an MSC in mineral economics.
Andrew Ford – General Manager Exploration
Andrew’s career spans 35 years of exploration and mine development experience in multiple commodities for both majors, including Homestake and Barrick Gold, and junior ASX-listed companies. He has led technical teams throughout Australia, Africa, USA, Europe and Asia, including leading the geology team at the Bawdwin base metals project in Myanmar through the DFS process.
In his most recent role Andrew has led the geology team at Hastings Technology Metals with a focus on resource growth and exploration at the Yangibana Rare Earths Project, where Mineral Resources have now grown to 29.93Mt of TREO.
Brian Rodan – Executive Chairman
Brian Rodan is a fellow of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy with 45 years’ experience. Previously, he was the managing director and owner of Australian Contract Mining (ACM), a mid-tier mining contracting company that successfully completed $1.5 billion worth of work over a 20-year period.
For 15 years, Rodan held various roles with Eltin Limited (including general manager between 1993 and 1996 and executive director between 1996 and 1999), Australia’s largest full service ASX-listed contract mining company with an annual turnover of $850 million. He was a founding director of Dacian Gold (2013) and Desert Metals (2020) and became the largest shareholder upon listing both companies on the ASX.
Rodan is currently executive chairman of Siren Gold and Iceni Gold Limited, and is currently the largest shareholder in both companies as well as Augustus Minerals.
Graeme Smith – Non-Executive Director
Graeme Smith is an experienced resources sector chief financial officer, company secretary and corporate executive who has worked with mining and exploration companies with operations in Australia (Croesus Mining NL, Genesis Minerals Limited, Jabiru Metals Limited, Breaker Resources NL, Pluton Resources Limited) and overseas (Tanga Resources Limited, Ikwezi Mining Limited) for the past 30 years.
He is the principal of Wembley Corporate Services, which provides company secretarial, CFO and corporate governance services to public companies.
Smith is a fellow of the Australian Society of Certified Practising Accountants, the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, and the Governance Institute of Australia. He is currently the company secretary for Alto Metals, Avenira, Renegade Exploration and Enterprise Metals, and was a director of ASX-listed Anglo Australian Resources.
Darren Holden – Non-Executive Director
Dr. Darren Holden is a geologist with 28 years of industry experience in mineral exploration and exploration technologies. He has worked in North America, the Pacific and Australia, where he has been involved in discovery-stage copper, gold, silver, molybdenum and platinum group elements deposits. He specializes in regional to local scale targeting using the integration of geology, geophysics and geochemistry.
Holden is a past vice-president of Geoinformatics/Fractal Geoscience and a former CEO of a publicly listed gold explorer. He currently runs exploration advisory business GeoSpy, and is a co-founder of successful private project generation businesses Marlee Minerals and Odette Geoscience. He is also currently a director Aurumin (ASX:AUN) and chair of OD6 Metals (ASX:OD6), as well as several private companies.
Holden holds a BSc (hons) first class (geology) from The University of Western Australia and a PhD (history) from The University of Notre Dame Australia. He is a fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and a member of the Geological Society of Australia.