Woomera blast will put junior explorer Maximus into
overdrive
Maximus Resources (MXR)
THERE is life yet in the exploration sector, notwithstanding the cash crunch that has hundreds of
juniors wondering where their next meal is coming from.
A little thing caled Maximus Resources proves the point. It has been an honest toiler for years
now, mainly looking for gold around Mount Magnet in Western Australia.
But the Adelaide-based outfit has also had its foot on a chunk of ground in South Australia’s
Gawler Craton, prospective for Olympic Dam-style iron oxide- copper- gold (IOCG) deposits.
The only problem was its tenements sit on the Woomera rocket range, about midway between OZ
Minerals’ Prominent Hil mine (on the range) and BHP’s Olympic Dam monster (not on the range).
Access for explorers was the issue, as you can’t have dril ers ducking for cover every time the
latest
THE AUSTRALIAN
BARRY FITZGERALD THE AUSTRALIAN FEBRUARY 20, 2015 12:00AM
Maximus’s Ollie’s Dam prospect lies in the Woomera rocket range’s ‘amber’ zone. Source: New s
Limited
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gee-whiz rocket comes hurtling over the horizon. But under an access regimen put in place by state
and federal governments, along with the Defence Department, access for explorers is now possible.
In the interim, al the black box technology that exists has been thrown at the Maximus ground and
has confirmed that it is indeed a good place to be looking for the next IOCG in the carton.
And others agree, with an existing exploration joint venture between the ASX-listed Monax (MOX) and
the $14 bil ion Antofagasta — the London-listed Chilean copper group looking to find an IOCG under
the noses of BHP Bil iton and OZ Minerals — set to test that promise in an upcoming dril ing
program.
The deal between Maximus and the Monax/Antofagasta al iance involves the al iance committing to
spend up to $US3 mil ion ($3.8m) within three years to earn an 80 per cent equity in four Maximus
tenements covering its Mil ers Creek project area on the rocket range.
That it is priced in US dolars tels you who is providing the cash. The first of the 1200-metre
holes wil test the guts of the Ol ie’s Dam prospect, starting late next month in line with the next
45-day “open’’ period for explorers in the so-caled Amber zone of the rocket range.
Ol ie’s Dam sits up hard against the Green zone of the rocket range, which gives explorers a
175-day access window. Needless to say, if the first of the holes hits something interesting there
wil be a push to get the boundaries redrawn to position the prospect in the more user-friendly
Green zone.
Good on the Chileans for stumping up the cash for a program that gives a junior like Maximus a shot
at a brighter future. Maximus is trading at al of 0.2c, giving it a market cap of $1.7m.
It is holding cash of $1.5m, which means that its leverage to the potential — and that is al it is
— of a decent hit at Ol ie’s Dam is extreme.
