AuKing Mining Ltd (ASX:AKN) is closing in on completion of its “transformative” acquisition of the Cloncurry Gold Project in northwest Queensland, with the deal scheduled to settle in early November as the company eyes a new phase as a gold developer.
The deal will see AuKing move to full ownership of Orion Resources Pty Ltd, the private company acquiring Cloncurry, through the issue of new shares valued at about A$16.3 million.
Managing director Paul Williams said Orion’s short-term funding arrangement clears the way for completion.
“With Orion completing the Cloncurry acquisition in early November, AuKing will then focus on finalising the entitlement offer to existing shareholders and the 100% Orion merger over the next few weeks,” Williams said. “In addition, we can focus entirely on project study and development activities.
“The board views this acquisition as a substantial opportunity to transition AuKing into a gold developer and near-term producer while generating significant value for shareholders,” he added.
Location of Cloncurry Gold Project assets.
Funding pathway secured
Orion has executed a binding term sheet with an independent financier to provide short-term funding sufficient to settle its purchase obligations by November 3. The facility will be repaid once AuKing finalises its planned A$8 million Nebari debt drawdown and conducts an entitlement offer to existing shareholders, with further details to be released shortly.
AuKing has also approached the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) to confirm that full re-compliance under Chapter 11 of the listing rules will not be required for the 100% Orion acquisition. The transaction remains subject to that confirmation and shareholder approval before the share issue to Orion investors can be completed.
District-scale gold portfolio
The Cloncurry Gold Project covers about 447 square kilometres of granted mining and exploration tenure around Mt Freda and Golden Mile, hosting multiple drill-ready gold and copper-gold targets. The district has a long production history dating back to the early 20th century and includes several JORC-compliant resource areas.
Overhead of Mt Freda Complex, including open pit and proposed VAT processing.
Key deposits such as Mt Freda and Golden Mile offer near-term restart potential with existing infrastructure, while prospects including Mt Scheelite and Little Duke present strong exploration upside. The region also shows evidence of iron-oxide copper-gold (IOCG)-style mineralisation.
Overhead of Golden Mile Complex, Comstock pit to the left and Shamrock pit to the right.
Lorena processing hub
At the centre of the package sits the permitted 280,000-tonne-per-annum Lorena carbon-in-leach and flotation plant, commissioned in 2018 for more than A$50 million. Recently valued at more than A$30 million on a replacement basis, the plant provides a low-capital restart option and the potential to act as a regional toll-treating hub — supporting a “hub-and-spoke” model for third-party ore.
Overhead of Lorena plant, tailings and waste rock stockpiles and open pit.
The facility lies 15 kilometres east of Cloncurry on sealed roads with established infrastructure, enabling AuKing to leverage processing capacity across its own deposits and neighbouring projects.
Next steps
With completion targeted for early November, AuKing plans to:
- Proceed with the entitlement offer to existing shareholders.
- Execute binding documentation for the Nebari A$8 million facility.
- Seek shareholder approval for the Orion share issue at an extraordinary general meeting expected in late November.
- Advance project planning and technical studies aimed at defining a viable restart pathway.
Once complete, the transaction will consolidate one of Queensland’s most extensive gold portfolios under a single ASX-listed owner — positioning AuKing as an emerging gold developer with immediate processing capacity and a pipeline of district-scale exploration targets.