500m Thick Baucau Limestone on ESR Ground

500m Thick Baucau Limestone on ESR Ground!

JORC Deadline Looms (septemeber 30th) – Is This the Fastest Billion-Tonne Upside Play on the ASX?

Let me be clear from the outset — the basis of this research is a 2011 geological and hydrogeological study presented at the 1st International Congress of Geology of Timor-Leste, authored by Lindsay Furness, a hydrogeologist with the National Directorate of Water Resources, Ministry of Infrastructure, Timor-Leste.

This government-endorsed report, still publicly available, identifies a 100–500m thick Baucau Limestone unit, rich in calcite, widespread across eastern Timor, including Lautém — precisely where Estrella Resources (ASX: ESR) now holds its newly converted exploration licenses.

Original study:
https://123dok.net/article/hydrogeology-baucau-limestone-timor-leste-l-indsay-urness.zlgxr612?utm

1. Baucau Limestone – The Geological Backbone of Timor-Leste

Furness (2011) describes the Baucau Limestone as:
➡️ “100–500m thick”
➡️ “Massive, calcirudite and calcarenite reef-derived limestone”
➡️ “Widespread in eastern Timor, including Baucau and Lautém”
➡️ “Elevated up to 800m above sea level”
➡️ “Vuggy, cavernous, reef-rich limestone with high karstification and purity”

This is a limestone unit formed from raised coral reef terraces, shaped by tectonic uplift over tens of thousands of years. It’s not theoretical. It’s mapped, sampled, and ready to drill.

2. Estrella’s Ground — It’s Right On Top of the Prize

As of 14 May 2025, Estrella announced that RP01–RP04 were converted to Exploration & Evaluation Licenses, granting full access to drill, trench, and sample across 268.7km² in Lautém — the very area highlighted in Furness’s paper.

“All four newly converted licenses have significant clean limestone… part of the Baucau Formation and in places several hundred metres thick.”
[ASX: ESR, 14 May 2025]

✅ ESR has already sampled the limestone with assay results showing:

• CaCO₃: 88–93.4%

• Low Fe, Si, SO₃ impurities

• Net Neutralisation Potential: 783–944 tCaCO₃/1Kt

This is high-purity material suitable for cement, steel, glass, ag-lime, water treatment, and even battery waste neutralisation.

3. How Big Is This? Let’s Do the Math – 200m & 500m Models

Using standard inferred JORC assumptions:

Model A – Conservative (200m thickness):

• Required volume: 192M m³ = 500Mt @ 2.6t/m³

• Area needed: 0.96 km²
  ✔️ Just 2km x 500m

Model B – Massive (500m thickness):

• Area needed: only 0.384 km²
  ✔️ Less than 1km x 500m

With mapped limestone over multiple kilometres of strike, Estrella could be holding 1–2+ billion tonnes if this formation continues across their footprint — and there’s no reason to believe it won’t.

4. This Is Economic Geology – Not Just Rock

✅ Surface-level, minimal strip ratio
✅ Limestone overlays manganese (drill both in one program)
✅ Dual monetisation: lime now, manganese later
✅ High purity = multiple downstream applications
✅ Baucau limestone is proven across Asia for industrial-grade lime markets

5. Infrastructure – What Will It Take?

Yes, Com Deepwater Port is nearby and could support initial exports with upgrades. But for a project of this magnitude:

➡️ A dedicated port or barge-loading facility will need to be commissioned to support large-scale commercialisation.

This is not a limitation — it’s a sign of scale. And with government backing and the REM JV, infrastructure development is a surmountable step.

6. Fast Track to JORC – This Can Move Quickly

Unlike base metals, limestone JORC requirements are straightforward:

➡️ A few hundred metres of spaced RC or diamond holes
➡️ Density & chemical sampling
➡️ Local geological continuity

Estrella has already completed environmental work. A JORC-defined resource is well within reach before the 30 September 2025 target date under the REM JV framework.

Summary: This Is the Opportunity

• Fully permitted licenses across mapped Baucau limestone

• 500m thickness backed by a peer-reviewed 2011 study

• 90%+ CaCO₃ confirmed in assays

• JORC resource achievable in months, not years

• Infrastructure within reach

• Industrial-grade limestone in short global supply

• And manganese still coming…

Read the geological report yourself:
https://123dok.net/article/hydrogeology-baucau-limestone-timor-leste-l-indsay-urness.zlgxr612?utm

This could be as good as it gets for early-stage industrial minerals. And I don’t say that lightly.

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