WESTGOLD Resources has returned a string of good results from drilling at the Rover project, 80km southwest of Tennant Creek.
Darwin-based stockbroker Matthew Baker, of iizen Equities, said the assay results showed there was a good possibility of a mining operation within a few years.
He said that some of the copper results produced so far were “spectacular”.
Westgold has licences over 1300sq km, with a further 12,000sq km under application.
Company managing director Andrew Beckwith said the prospect was a “mirror image” of the nearby Tennant Creek field, which is being explored by Emmerson and Ivanhoe.
Westgold is spending $5 million a year on exploration. Mr Beckwith said the assay results were encouraging but a mine was still a few years off.
“We think it’s got the scope to become a mine, but we can’t say that for definite yet.”
It has been suspected for many years that the area was highly prospective for gold and copper.
But explorers have failed to reach access agreement with the land’s traditional owners until now.
Meanwhile, in good news for another local explorer, Emmerson Resources, a joint venture has been signed, paving the way for an aggressive exploration program.
Its joint venture with Ivanhoe Australia has been ratified, which means $18m will be pumped into gold and copper exploration over the next three years.
Ivanhoe, which is headed by Canadian billionaire Robert Friedland will earn a 51 per cent share in the majority of Emmerson’s Tennant mineral tenements, which cover nearly 3000 sq km.
The Canadian company can spend a further $10m in additional exploration after the three-year period to maintain its 51 per cent interest.
Emmerson managing director Rob Bills said the partnership would provide funds to underpin a significant exploration push, including a range of deep drilling targets that were identified from large geophysical surveys undertaken in 2008.
The company owns several historical tenements, including Gecko, White Devil, Orlando, and North Star, as well as the 100 per cent-owned Warrego gold processing plant.
However, news from Bootu Creek, 120km north of Tennant, was not so good.
The mine reported a net first half profit after tax of $10.8m after a crash in manganese prices pushed down income to $127.9m.
Profit for the same time last year – when manganese prices were at a record high – was more than $96m.
But industry experts say any profit during the manganese price slump is good news.
And the company is still in a strong financial position – it has $78.9m in cash and no external debt. Manganese prices are improving and an annual production target of 700,000 tonnes has been set.
Bootu Creek’s owner, OMH, has decided not to declare an interim dividend.