Paterson South is a farm-in and joint venture arrangement between Greatland and with Rio Tinto Exploration (RTX), a subsidiary of Rio Tinto (ASX/LSE:RIO), to accelerate exploration across highly prospective tenure within the Paterson Province of Western Australia located near Greatland’s world-class Havieron gold-copper project.
Farm-In and Joint Venture Arrangement
On 27 May 2023, Greatland executed a farm-in and joint venture term sheet (Paterson South Term Sheet) with RTX to accelerate exploration at nine exploration licences within the Paterson Province of Western Australia, located near Havieron: Strickland (E45/4807), Budjidowns (E45/4815), Telfer Domain (E45/4834), Basel (E45/5122), Kaliranu (E45/5238), Paterson 8 (E45/5242), Skylar (E45/5351), Triangle South (E45/5532) and Wilki Lake (E45/5576) (collectively, the Paterson South Tenements).
Under the Paterson South Term Sheet, Greatland is entitled to earn up to a 75% interest in the Paterson South Tenements by spending at least A$21.1 million and completing 24,500 metres of drilling over seven years as part of a two-stage farm-in and joint venture arrangement as follows:
- Stage 1 Farm-In: Greatland is entitled to earn a 51% interest in the Paterson South Tenements by incurring at least A$7.1 million of exploration expenditure and completing 7,500 metres of drilling within four years of execution of the Paterson South Term Sheet; and
- Stage 2 Farm-In: Greatland is entitled to earn an additional 24% interest in the Paterson South Tenements (cumulative interest of 75%) by spending at least an additional A$14 million of exploration expenditure and completing a further 17,000 metres of drilling within three years of completing the Stage 1 Farm-In.
As part of the Stage 1 Farm-In, Greatland is subject to a Minimum Commitment comprising of A$1.1 million of exploration expenditure and 2,000 metres of drilling to be completed before 31 December 2024. Greatland is entitled to withdraw from the farm-in and joint venture arrangement once it has met this Minimum Commitment.
If Greatland completes the Stage 1 Farm-In and elects to acquire a 51% interest in the Paterson South Tenements, an unincorporated joint venture (Paterson South JV) will be formed between Greatland (51%) and RTX (49%) in accordance with the terms of the Paterson South Term Sheet. Greatland will be the manager of the Paterson South JV. RTX is entitled, after completion of the Stage 1 Farm-In, to elect to contribute to its share of Paterson South JV expenditure. If RTX so elects, Greatland’s Paterson South JV interest will remain at 51% and the Stage 2 Farm-In will not apply.
Geology and Mineralisation
The Paterson South Tenements overlie the NW trending folded and thrusted sequence of Proterozoic sandstone and carbonate rocks of the Yeneena Supergoup. These are intruded by the late Neo Proterozoic Mt Crofton and O’Callaghans granite suites developed along NE trending lineaments. Mineralisation at Telfer, Havieron and Winu is considered intrusion related and occurs coincident with and slightly post this granitic emplacement event. The Proterozoic basement is covered by minimal to 500m+ of Permian and later sediments across the Paterson South Tenements.