TIDMEST
RNS Number : 5015A
East Star Resources PLC
22 January 2024
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22 January 2024
East Star Resources Plc
("East Star" or the "Company")
US$0.5M Grant from BHP for Copper Porphyry Exploration,
Kazakhstan
&
Appointment of Director
East Star Resources Plc (LSE:EST), which is defining mineral
resources in Kazakhstan for the energy revolution, is delighted to
announce it has been selected to receive a grant of up to US$0.5
million from BHP under the 2024 BHP Xplor programme to initiate a
copper porphyry exploration strategy in Kazakhstan.
Highlights:
-- Non-dilutive grant funding to advance East Star's copper porphyry exploration
strategy
-- Exploration programme managed by East Star, supported by BHP Xplor with full
access to BHP's expertise and global partnerships
-- Chris van Wijk, a geologist who developed the porphyry exploration strategy
with East Star, to join Board as Non-Executive Director
Alex Walker, East Star CEO, commented:
"We are extremely proud that BHP has chosen to work with East
Star with the provision of $500,000 of non-dilutive grant funding
to look for major new copper porphyry deposits in the region.
Porphyry deposits are the primary deposit style for copper
production in the world and Kazakhstan is host to several
exceptional but significantly under explored regions that contain a
number of world-class copper porphyry mines . This is an exciting
new strand to our copper strategy as we progress both porphyry and
VMS exploration."
Alongside this, we are delighted to welcome Chris van Wijk as a
Non-Executive Director. Chris has exceptional exploration pedigree,
having conducted joint venture management and project evaluation
for major mining companies and having been involved in several
exploration success stories. Chris enabled East Star to develop
this opportunity and his technical expertise will be a valuable
addition to our Board and exploration portfolio."
Head of the BHP Xplor Program, Charlee Johnson, commented:
"The diversity and quality of the submissions amongst the
applicants is amazing and inspiring. We are excited to partner with
East Star and help bring their ideas and passion for their
exploration projects to life. We aim to accelerate this process and
create disruptive results with new concepts, data and testing
opportunities."
Copper Porphyry Exploration Strategy
East Star has developed a strategy of regional target generation
for copper porphyry deposits, principally focussed on the
Balkash-Ili magmatic arc, host to the Kounrad deposit (650Mt @
0.59% Cu) and Aktogai-Aidarly (2.5Bt @ 0.39% Cu). By applying
modern mineral systems concepts with advanced desktop analytical
techniques and on the ground geological confirmation, East Star
intends to secure several exploration licences within the area of
interest for further field work. The BHP Xplor grant will be
directed towards licence costs, field programmes, desktop
evaluation work, and staff and administrative costs in the
execution of the work plan. The programme will be managed by East
Star with guidance from the BHP Xplor and wider expert team.
About BHP Xplor
BHP Xplor is a cohort-based world-first accelerator programme,
dedicated to unearthing new critical mineral deposits by uniting
BHP experts, thought leaders and innovative mineral explorers to
offer participants with the opportunity to accelerate their
exploration concepts and the potential to establish a long-term
partnership with BHP. The programme offers participants funding,
mentorship and coaching, and connection into BHP's network of
suppliers and service providers.
BHP Xplor merges concepts from both venture-capital and
early-stage accelerators, to establish a fit-for-purpose
exploration portfolio of innovative, early-stage mineral
exploration companies and helps drive their exploration campaigns.
The programme provides candidates with a one-off, non-dilutive
grant of up to US$500,000, together with in-kind services,
mentorship, networking opportunities with industry and investors
and connections. The grant is a once off opportunity and there are
no obligations or commitments on East Star beyond the conclusion of
the Xplor programme; however, East Star has committed to grant BHP
certain pre-emption rights with respect to investments in East Star
or its projects within the programme.
The Xplor programme is designed to create disruptive results in
mineral exploration by identifying new concepts, leveraging new
data and testing opportunities at a much faster pace than
discoveries to date.
Appointment of Chris van Wijk as Non-Executive Director
East Star is pleased to announce the appointment of Chris van
Wijk as a Non-Executive Director of the Company effective
immediately. Chris is an experienced geologist who specialises in
project evaluation and project generation and developed the
porphyry exploration strategy with East Star . Chris brings a
wealth of relevant experience, including base metal and gold
exploration in Africa, Europe, the Americas, and Australia as well
as joint venture management and project evaluation for major mining
companies including BHP, IAMGOLD, First Quantum Minerals and
Fortescue Metals Group. Chris has managed various successful
exploration projects, including the Scoping Study at Mont Nimba in
Guinea for BHP Billiton and the resource drilling at First
Quantum's Sentinel Project in Zambia. Chris has a Master of Science
in Ore Deposit Geology from the University of Western Australia and
is a member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and
Metallurgy.
East Star Resources Plc
Alex Walker, Chief Executive Officer
Tel: +44 (0)20 7390 0234 (via Vigo Consulting)
SI Capital (Corporate Broker)
Nick Emerson
Tel: +44 (0)1483 413 500
Peterhouse Capital Limited (Corporate Broker)
Peter Greensmith
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7469 0930
Vigo Consulting (Investor Relations)
Ben Simons / Peter Jacob
Tel: +44 (0)20 7390 0234
About East Star Resources Plc
East Star Resources is focused on the discovery and development
of strategic minerals required for the energy revolution. With
eight licences covering 1,190.3 km(2) in three mineral rich
districts of Kazakhstan, East Star is undertaking an intensive
exploration programme, applying modern geophysics to discover
minerals in levels that were not previously explored. East Star's
most advanced project is a copper deposit on the world-class Rudny
Altai VMS Belt where the Company is working towards the delivery of
a JORC compliant open pit copper resource close to infrastructure,
within trucking distance of third-party mills with excess capacity.
East Star's management are based permanently on the ground,
supported by local expertise, a joint venture with the state mining
company on certain projects, and grant funding from BHP through the
BHP Xplor programme for copper porphyry exploration.
Visit our website:
www.eaststarplc.com
Follow us on social media:
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/east-star-resources/
X (formerly Twitter): https://twitter.com/EastStar_PLC
Subscribe to our email alert service to be notified whenever
East Star releases news:
www.eaststarplc.com/newsalerts
The person who arranged for the release of this announcement was
Alex Walker, CEO of the Company.
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END
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