Augur Resources eyes 80% interest in Wonogiri gold copper project after securing 51% ownership

Augur Resources (ASX: AUK) has reached the milestone of moving to 51% ownership of the Wonogiri gold‐copper project in central Java having met the required US$1.5 million spend on first stage exploration within 12 months of the acquisition agreement. 

The company can now move to earn up to an 80% interest in the project by spending a further US$2 million on exploration before 9 December 2012.

Augur is already working hard to earn its further 29% stake with detailed exploration of the Randu Kuning porphyry and four epithermal targets already underway.

The company has completed 27 diamond drill holes for 8,004 metres since March, with results for seven holes pending and a further four holes now underway.

Previous broad intersections defined at the Randu Kuning porphyry include 222 metres at 0.95 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 0.20% copper from 40 metres, 123.5 metres at 1.42g/t gold and 0.22% copper from 44.5 metres, and 182 metres at 0.75g/t gold and 0.17% copper from 68 metres.

Another indicator of Wonogiri’s potential is the previously reported initial metallurgical recovery results which returned favourable recoveries, with up to 94.1% copper recovered and 82.7% gold recovered in sulphide samples.

The Wonogiri project lies within the Sunda‐Banda arc and covers an area of 3,928 hectares considered prospective for epithermal gold and porphyry copper‐gold mineralisation.

There are a number of significant porphyry deposits in the region of Wonogiri, with Newmont Mining Corporation’s (ASX: NMC) operation at Batu Hijau which hosts 914 million tonnes at 0.53% copper and 0.40g/t gold, sitting along the same zone as Augur's project.

Originally published at: http://www.proactiveinvestors.com.au/companies/news/23411/augur-resources-eyes-80-interest-in-wonogiri-gold-copper-project-after-securing-51-ownership--23411.html