Sheffield Resources (ASX: SFX) has been granted an additional three tenements in the Moora Talc Belt of Western Australia, with the company's tenement footprint expanding to a very significant 1150 square kilometres.
The area is already proven to be very prospective for high quality talc, considering Rio Tinto’s (ASX: RIO) nearby world class Three Springs deposit.
Sheffield is raring to go, with the company bringing forward the planned drilling program, subject to regulatory approvals.
The talc market appears to be heating up, with Rio Tinto announcing just last month that it had received a binding offer of US$340 million for its global talc division from French conglomerate Imerys.
Rio’s talc division includes the Three Springs talc mine, located in the northern half of the Moora Talc Belt, which has been producing high purity talc since 1948.
Bruce McQuitty, managing director of Sheffield, said "This is the first time a junior exploration company has controlled such a large tenure position over the Moora Talc Belt.
"We have numerous talc prospects ready to drill and the objective of our initial drilling programme will be to prove that we have high quality marketable talc."
Sheffield is only new to the ASX, with admission granted in December 2010.