PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed explorer Arunta Resources has signed a farm-in joint venture (JV) agreement with fellow-listed GWR Group over its Hatches Creek tungsten project, in the Northern Territory.

Under the terms of the agreement, GWR would sole fund A$1.5-million of expenditure to earn a 50% interest in the Hatches Creek project, with the funding geared towards development studies and securing approvals for mining and processing operations.

GWR would act as manager of the JV, and the company would have a two-year period in which to conduct its capital spend.

GWR had also been granted the right of first refusal to provide debt financing for the JV on normal commercial terms, to progress the development of a processing plant at the Hatches Creek project, supported by offtake arrangements with a major trading house or end-user.

Arunta last year reported a maiden inferred resource of 225 066 t, grading 0.58% tungsten at the Hatches Creek project. The stockpiled material consists of mineralised mine waste, tailings and eluvial material from the 11 largest mines in the Hatches Creek tungsten field.

Arunta believed that the resource would provide the basis of a scoping study to assess the viability of processing the mineralised surface stockpiles accumulated between 1915 and 1957.

Once the project was in production and producing free cash flows, the JV would undertake further exploration to increase the project’s mine life.

Arunta told shareholders on Monday that the agreement with GWR provided an "excellent opportunity" to fund the ongoing development of Hatches Creek without the need to conduct a capital raising, in what was considered a difficult funding environment for junior mining companies.

“With a development pathway now secured for Hatches Creek, Arunta will focus on advancing other projects within its existing Northern Territory minerals portfolio and securing new, high-quality opportunities to grow shareholder value,” the company said.