Inflection Resources, a copper-gold focused mineral exploration company, has agreed to acquire a portfolio of Australian copper-gold exploration projects from Newmont’s subsidiaries.
This acquisition involves projects in New South Wales and the Northern Territory and is set to transfer 100% interest to Inflection, which regards these areas as promising for copper-gold discoveries.
Under the terms for the Bell River project, Inflection will issue Newmont 1,000,000 common shares and make milestone payments of A$2.5m ($1.63m) upon completing a compliant pre-feasibility study and A$5m ($3.27m) at the start of commercial production.
Newmont retains a 2% net smelter return (NSR) royalty, with Inflection having an option to purchase 1% of this NSR for A$5m ($3.27m).
For the Tennant East project, Inflection will issue 250,000 common shares to Newmont and cover tenement renewal fees for 2025-26. A 1.5% NSR will be retained by Newmont, with Inflection able to purchase 0.5% post-study at fair market value.
Finalisation of these transactions is anticipated within weeks, conditional on exploration license transfers and share issuance. Located in the Northern Territory, Tennant East spans 12 exploration licenses over iron oxide copper gold (IOCG) targets with limited prior exploration.
The Bell River project is situated in central New South Wales within the Macquarie Arc, an area known for its copper-gold porphyry potential. The project features advanced argillic alteration zones interpreted as porphyry lithocaps, alongside minimal drilling on geochemical anomalies and high-temperature alteration areas.
Notably, reconnaissance mapping identified substantial argillic alteration at Bell River prospects, suggesting relic porphyry lithocaps. Gold and copper values have been reported from surface rock sampling in certain areas.
The Bellevue prospect has silica ridges with hydrothermal breccias indicative of mineralisation potential.
Tennant East exhibits geochemical footprints from preliminary scout drilling aligning with IOCG mineralisation styles. The project’s location along the Barkly Highway facilitates access.
Geophysical features explored by previous owners showed promising results through early-stage drilling efforts.
Inflection president and CEO Alistair Waddell said: “We are pleased to announce the acquisition of this high-potential project portfolio, which represents the culmination of an extensive evaluation process.
“The Tennant East and Bell River projects meet our rigorous selection criteria, particularly regarding the scale and quality of individual exploration targets and concepts. These new projects complement our existing New South Wales portfolio and will be explored in parallel with our current AngloGold Ashanti-funded exploration program.
“We look forward to applying our systematic, systems-thinking exploration approach to unlock the potential of these projects once the transaction is completed.”
