Rockfire Resources PLC (LON:ROCK) has been granted a 38-square kilometre permit surrounding Newmont’s Mt Leyshon gold mine.
The grant of the New Leyshon permit means that Rockfire now has permitted ground immediately contiguous to Mt Leyshon on three sides.
WATCH: Rockfire Resources' David Price fired up over Kookaburra tenement
The district has produced more than 20mln ounces of gold, including 2.5mln ounces of gold produced by Mt Leyshon itself.
The thinking is that the faults that host the gold at Mt Leyshon might extend into Rockfire's tenement.
"The grant of the New Leyshon licence endorses Rockfire's determined strategy of accumulating projects with low entry costs and is an important growth development for the Company," said chief executive David Price.
"Our strategy of acquiring highly prospective opportunities in and around the Charters Towers region is being realised. New Leyshon opens up opportunities for gold and silver immediately surrounding a multi-million-ounce gold mine."
Gold was first discovered at Mt Leyshon in 1887 when the Mt Leyshon Gold Mining Company was listed on the London Stock Exchange. It was not until 1920, when the Prince of Wales gold nugget, weighing 143 ounces was discovered west of Mt Leyshon, that the goldfield started to attract more significant exploration effort.
Modern open-cut gold production commenced at Mt Leyshon in 1987 and continued uninterrupted for 15 years until 2002. The open-cut mining operations exploited an orebody which is 400 metres long at surface, whilst drilling has confirmed that gold mineralisation continues to at least 650 metres below surface.