Arafura Resources
Arafura Resources derives its name from the Arafura Sea, the body of water which lies to Australia’s north between the Northern Territory and New Guinea. The company has a number of assets, including:
- Nolans rare earths-phosphate-uranium project.
- Mt Porter and Kurinelli gold projects.
- Hammer Hill base metal joint venture with Mithril Resources Ltd and BHP Billiton.
- Jervois magnetite-vanadium project.
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Arafura Resources snags A$24m funding deal with East China Exploration for rare earths project
Arafura Resources (ASX:ARU) has this week confirmed that the Chinese company East China Exploration (ECE) will invest A$24 million to acquire a 25% interest in Arafura.
ECE is a major mineral exploration, development and mining group based in the Jiangsu Province of China.
ECE will acquire 60 million shares at prices up to 40 cents per share by way of two placements.
The details of ECE’s commitment were confirmed at ECE’s Headquarters in Nanjing, China this week in meetings with Arafura’s Chairman, Ian Laurance and Managing Director, Alistair Stephens.
The company met with senior ECE executives. and said that the ECE placements would be subject to approval by Arafura shareholders at an EGM that would be held as soon as possible. The ECE involvement would also require FIRB approval and both companies were proceeding with this application.
“ECE, with a history of 54 years, is a major mineral exploration, development and mining group based in the Jiangsu Province of China and they are interested in assisting Arafura to develop the Nolan’s rare earths-phosphate and uranium project in Northern Territory”, Mr. Laurance said.
“The ECE capital injection will ensure that Arafura has the cash to progress our feasibility work for the Nolans project this year. ECE will then assist us in project financing for mining and processing for the Nolans project.”
Mr. Laurance said that following the meetings in Nanjing this week, a delegation of senior ECE Executives will travel to Australia in April to visit the Nolan’s site in central Australia and to meet with the Northern Territory Minister for Mines, Hon Kon Vatskalis and the Federal Minister for Resources, Hon Martin Ferguson.
Managing Director Mr. Stephens said that in addition to assisting the funding of the Nolans project, ECE would enter into a series of relevant Joint Ventures to explore Arafura’s other tenements in the Northern Territory.
“ECE has had great success in exploration across China and in many other countries and they are keen to bring their expertise to assist Arafura in developing further opportunities.” Mr. Stephens said.
Arafura’s primary focus is the development of the Nolans rare earths-phosphate-uranium project. The deposit has a current resource of 30.3 million tonnes, containing 848,000 tonnes of rare earth oxides, 3.9 million tonnes of phosphate, and 13.3 million pounds of uranium (ASX: ARU 11/11/08). The Nolans deposit is capable of sustaining a mine life well in excess of 20 years.
Other Arafura Resources news
- East China Mineral Exploration & Development Bureau increases stake Aussie rare earth producer Arafura to 25pct
2009-09-18 - Arufa well-placed to take advantage of China's tightening of rare earths supply
2009-08-21
