Managing director Ian Chalmers has welcomed as “good news” Newmont Australia’s decision to increase its interest in the Orange District Exploration Joint Venture to 75 per cent by completing a bankable feasibility study (BFS) on the McPhillamys gold deposit.

At Alkane’s election, Newmont can earn a further 5 per cent interest by securing funding for Alkane’s share of any capital costs for the development.

Mr Chalmers calls McPhillamys “the largest greenfields gold discovery in Australia since Tropicana (Western Australia) in 2005”.

The Australian Securities Exchange has been told that it has a “conceptual exploration target” of two to four million ounces of gold with 50,000 to 100,000 tonnes of copper.

Further drilling this year will lead to an “identified mineral resource” that Mr Chalmers is tipping could be closer to four million than two million ounces.

Holder of the exploration licence, Alkane Resources conducted initial exploration with Newmont cash.

But in January last year Newmont opted to increase its interest in the project by also providing manpower.

Speaking from his Perth office yesterday, Mr Chalmers said Newmont’s decision to push ahead at McPhillamys allowed Alkane to concentrate on its Tomingley Gold Project (TGP) and Dubbo Zirconia Project (DZP).

The TGP project currently has a 840,000 ounce resource that could grow with the company announcing only last week the discovery of a new deposit.

A development commitment is expected late this year for the DZP based on a world-class resource of metals and rare-earth elements at Toongi.

The joint venture includes the Molong and Moorilda tenements, the latter including McPhillamys.

Despite becoming a passive partner, Alkane would have a 20 to 25 per share of any future mining operation launched at McPhillamys.

Newmont Mining Corporation is the world’s largest gold producer, working across five continents.