PERTH-based explorer Trafford Resources has doubled its South Australian Gawler Craton landholding following its acquisition of a 51 per cent interest in a joint venture surrounding Kingsgate Consolidated’s Challenger gold mine.
Trafford purchased fellow gold explorer Southern Gold’s share in the Challenger JV with Dominion Gold, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kingsgate.
Trafford will control a further 5652 square kilometres of highly-prospective exploration licences on the Gawler Craton once final documentation for the sale and purchase of the 51 per cent JV interest has been completed using $500,000 cash and 3 million Trafford shares.
Once Trafford enters into a feasibility study on the project, it will issue a further $1 million worth of Trafford shares to Southern Gold.
“Together with its [2692sqkm] Wilcherry Hill project on the Eyre Peninsula and this western Gawler Craton project, Trafford now has more than 8300 square kilometres of Gawler Craton to define and develop targets,” Trafford managing director Ian Finch said.
“The Gawler Craton has produced a number of world-class deposits such as Olympic Dam, Prominent Hill and the Challenger gold mine, and there is no reason why it cannot be repeated,” he said.
Trafford’s activities in the area are subject to an existing access deed with the Australian Defence Department and the South Australian Government for exploration in the recently-opened Woomera Prohibited Area (WPA).
Trafford’s activities could be further boosted after the South Australian Government promised the provision of a $2 million funding package to promote exploration on the Gawler Craton within the highly-prospective WPA in May this year.
“Trafford is very well placed to take advantage of the exploration boom in South Australia,” Mr Finch said.
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