Aeris Resources Ltd (ASX:AIS) is a beneficiary of a federal court ruling which dismissed appeals by three groups relating to the proposed Lake Torrens project in South Australia.
This ruling will allow the joint-venture partners including Argonaut Resources (ASX:ARE) to conduct further drilling at the Torrens anomaly.
This is required to intercept the modelled copper-gold mineralisation, which in the event of a discovery may host a world-class deposit.
Is Torrens bigger than Olympic Dam?
The Torrens joint-venture is 70% owned by Aeris Resources, while Argonaut Resources (ASX:ARE), which is managing the project, holds the remaining 30%.
READ: Argonaut Resources confirms favourable court decision for Lake Torrens title rights
The Torrens coincident magnetic and gravity anomaly has a footprint considerably larger than that of Olympic Dam.
Aeris already has a substantial copper producing project within its portfolio.
The company is a growing copper producer through its Tritton copper operations in central-west New South Wales.
READ: Aeris Resources is a copper producer with multiple growth opportunities
In the event of a discovery at Torrens, the anomaly has the scale to host a world-class copper-gold deposit, providing substantial momentum for Aeris.
Drilling by Western Mining Corporation
Drilling of the Torrens anomaly by Western Mining Corporation in the late 1970s and by the Torrens Joint Venture in 2007 and 2008 delivered some encouraging data.
It confirmed the existence of a major iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG) mineralising system beneath several hundred metres of sedimentary cover.