CANADA’S Freeport Resources Inc. has acquired all of the outstanding share capital of Quidum Resources Inc. providing it with ownership of the rich Star Mountains Gold Project in PNG’s remote Western Province.
Quidum is a privately-held company which controls Highlands Pacific Resources Limited, a corporation established under the laws of Papua New Guinea and which owns a series of contiguous exploration licenses located in Papua New Guinea and which are together commonly known as the “Star Mountains Property”.
The Star Mountains exploration tenements comprise four leases within the highly prospective New Guinea Orogenic Belt, approximately 25 km from the premier mining operation of Ok Tedi.
This belt is also home to several other significant mines including Grasberg, Porgera and Frieda River.
At least US$50 million has been spent on exploration since Star Mountains was first discovered. In 2018 H&S Consultants Pty. Ltd completed a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate for the Olgal deposit within the tenements.
Using a 0.3% copper cut-off grade, the deposit is estimated to contain 210 million tonnes of Inferred Resource grading 0.4% copper and 0.4 g/t gold, for 2.9 million ounces of contained gold and 0.84 million tonnes (1.9 billion pounds) of contained copper.
Based on current market prices, this is equivalent to 5.7 million ounces of gold or 1.7 million tonnes (3.8 billion pounds) of copper. The logistics in the area are well-established and there remains significant potential for additional discoveries within the existing tenements.
TSX-listed Freeport Resources is a Canadian junior mineral exploration company with a diversified portfolio of gold, copper, garnet, molybdenum and tungsten properties in Canada.
President and CEO, Gord Friesen, said Star Mountains offers a unique opportunity.
“With 5.7 million ounces of gold equivalent, we at Freeport are extremely excited to add a project like Star Mountains to our portfolio.”
