2. Others in the basin include SFR, WGX, NST, ENT, HOR, BYH, FEL and ALY.
3. SFR is the only miner in the basin with a copper processor (DeGrussa) which is fed by DeGrussa mine and Monty mine. SFR would dearly love to find more feed. It pursues it in its own tenements and other tenements held by AUR, ENT and ALY under farm-ins/JVs, It also seeks it in the Yerrida Basin to the south via a GTE farm-in. SFR is essentially a copper explorer and miner.
4. WGX operates the Fortnum gold areas and gold processor. AUR used to own Fortnum, but sold so at to clear debt. However, the 2 adjacent Forrest-Wodger-Big Billy tenements were retained with AUR/FEL owning 80/20 shares. FEL is a sleeper though as it's free-carried until a decision to mine is made. WGX holds the gold rights to AUR's 80% of F-W-BB. WGX is a dedicated gold explorer and miner. However, it found copper sulphides in one of its drilling programs last year near the Fortnum plant.
5. NST is essentially a goldie, and i suspect that is why it agreed to farm-out Cheroona to AUR in Dec 2013. The sharing of those tenements is now 70AUR/30NST. NST can claw back to 49% by paying AUR $3m. NST owns 14.2% of the shares in ALY. It also owns shares in Superior Gold (Canada) which runs the gold mine at Plutonic. Superior has a gold JV with ALY.
6. The largest shareholder in AUR is also the largest shareholder in HOR. HOR owns the Horseshoe Lights copper pit and adjacent tenements and is seemingly waiting for someone to buy it. HL is in the Bryah too, about 25kms NE of Fortnum. HL was the first cu/au vms discovery in the basin. Degrussa was the second. Red Bore close to DeGrussa was the 3rd, then there was Monty. Where's the next one?
So, it's quite a web, but wait, there is more!!
I can't see a second copper processing plant being created, so SFR holds the reins there, meaning that any copper ore discovered and JORC'd in the basin would go to DeGrussa. If AUR were to be that discoverer then there would be closer (than now) relationship between AUR and SFR.
But what if WGX finds decent copper at Fortnum? Interesting, eh!
What if AUR discovers minable copper, with gold, at F-W-BB? What would FEL do? Want to be bought out? Who would buy out FEL's 20%? - WGX? Then, how is the copper and gold mining shared between AUR and WGX ? One would think that SFR would become involved.
Is HOR's HL an option for AUR or SFR to buy? - or maybe WGX's sister company MLX? - itself a copper explorer and miner.
Does SFR strike now or wait until a potentially minable discovery by AUR? Can AUR continue to afford to properly explore its tenements? Is SFR waiting on the sidelines for it to fail? Will NST help fund AUR's exploration by paying $3m? If that were to happen, then NST would have then expressed its interest in becoming a base metal explorer. That would put the cat …...….
There are many questions, too many to make any path clear at this stage.
AUR Price at posting:
1.6¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
