Power Metal Resources PLC (AIM:POW) and Red Rock Resources PLC (AIM:RRR) have jointly acquired more gold exploration licences in Australia.
The licences will be held through joint venture companies Red Rock Resources Australasia and New Ballarat Gold.
The combined footprint of the joint venture in the Victoria Goldfields now amounts to 1,832 square kilometres.
Among the new licence grants is ground that contains the old Ajax mine which historically produced 312,789 ounces of gold at an average grade of 14.8 grams per tonne in the 1920s.
"The grant of EL007330 is a considerable step forward bringing the historical Ajax gold mine into the Red Rock Australasia Ltd portfolio,” said Paul Johnson, chief executive of Power Metal Resources.
The historical Ajax gold mine comprises numerous shafts and workings found over several kilometres of combined strike length. It was historically mined to a vertical depth of approximately 400 metres.
The down dip and along strike extensions of the main ore zones remain virtually untested by drilling.
Work is currently under way to digitise the old mine workings into a 3D computer model in advance of a planned diamond drilling campaign which is expected to commence in late 2022. This will target the along strike and down dip extensions of the Ajax mine's main ore zones.