- Arafura Resources (ARU) has been granted mineral leases for a borefield to support its Nolans Project
- The leases have an initial term of 25 years and secure Arafura exclusive access for the construction, use and maintenance of the borefield
- Arafura now anticipates to commence the next phase of the borefield development, however, this is subject to funding
- The next stage includes diamond drilling and a front-end engineering design
- On the market, Arafura is up 6.25 per cent and is trading at 25.5 cents per share
Arafura Resources (ARU) has been granted mineral leases from the Northern Territory Government for a borefield.
The new leases cover the area surrounding the company’s Nolans Neodymium Praseodymium Project.
The new land hosts the Nolans borefield and was granted to Arafura’s subsidiary, Arafura Rare Earths, for an initial 25 years.
The leases provide Arafura exclusive access for the construction, use and maintenance of the borefield.
Additionally, the leases swill also allow the construction of a water division channel around the mining area.
Nolans Borefield
The Nolans Borefield was found by Arafura in 2013 after a successful exploration and investigation program in a previously unexplored basin area, 20 kilometres southwest of the Nolans site.
“The groundwater aquifer system covers a large area, is high yielding and is of a quality that is suitable to supply the Nolans Project with water over its planned life,” the company said.
Since identifying the resource, Arafura has maintained a monitoring program for ongoing collection of data.
What’s next?
Arafura is now planning the next phase of the borefield development, however, this is subject to funding.
The next stage includes stratigraphic diamond drilling to finalise understanding of the exact ground conditions and enable final production bore design.
This drilling will be completed with the front-end engineering design, which will allow the construction of the project.
On the market, Arafura is up 6.25 per cent and is trading at 25.5 cents per share at 2:45 pm AEDT.