ASX-listed AuKing Mining has signed an agreement to secure up to a 50% shareholding in Orion Resources, which is acquiring the Cloncurry gold project in northern Queensland.

Under a previous agreement, AuKing had the right to acquire a 15% interest in Orion after incurring A$1.5-million in project-related expenditure at Cloncurry. The revised agreement allows the company to increase its stake to 50% by committing a total of A$5-million in project funding by June 30, 2027.

Orion is advancing its acquisition of the Cloncurry gold project, with financial close expected in April. The company is also progressing studies aimed at restarting processing operations at the Lorena plant, mining at the Mt Freda/Golden Mile deposits, and potentially processing material from the Tick Hill gold mine and its tailings.

AuKing MD Paul Williams said the new agreement was an opportunity for the company to gain a significant holding in the Cloncurry gold project and leverage strong market sentiment towards gold investments.

“Having already secured the right to acquire a 15% interest, AuKing now has the ability to acquire a more substantial 50% total interest in the Cloncurry gold project assets that are being acquired for development by Orion. When you consider that those assets comprise a central processing plant (Lorena), mining and exploration licences and access to materials from other mining projects in the region such as Tick Hill, AuKing is well-positioned to play a key role in overseeing the re-establishment of mining and processing operations around Cloncurry in north Queensland,” said Williams.

Orion has entered into an asset sale agreement to acquire the Lorena processing plant, located 15 km east of Cloncurry, along with associated facilities and various mining tenements. The Lorena plant is a conventional carbon-in-leach gold processing facility.

In addition, Orion has acquired further exploration and mining tenements about 30 km south of the Lorena plant, known as the Mt Freda/Golden Mile project. In total, Orion’s tenure package covers 447 km² in the Cloncurry region.