Exploration company Rincon Resources has secured a multi-stage farm-in and joint venture (JV) agreement with Greatland Resources over a large portion of its Telfer South tenement package in Western Australia’s Paterson province, adjoining Greatland’s Telfer gold/copper operation.

Under the binding agreement, Greatland can earn an initial 51% interest in the Telfer South exploration ground by spending $2-million, with the option to increase its interest to 70% by spending a further $2-million. Greatland may lift its interest to 75% by sole funding the project through to a decision to mine.

If a decision to mine is taken and Rincon elects to retain a JV interest, any JV ore mined will be toll treated at Greatland’s Telfer mine, under a toll processing agreement to be based on principles set out in the farm-in agreement.

The joint venture covers about 200.8 km² of Rincon’s broader 215 km² Telfer South project area, which comprises six exploration licences and two prospecting licences spanning more than 40 km of prospective strike. Rincon will retain 100% ownership of the Hasties project, including the Hasties Main and Hasties South-East gold/copper deposits, located about 10 km south of the Telfer mine.

Rincon chairperson David Lenigas said the transaction was a material development for the company. "Greatland, with their ownership of the world-class Telfer mine, have certain home ground advantage that Rincon doesn't have and their expertise in the area will add significant momentum to the drilling and discovery efforts on the ground far more expeditiously than Rincon could look at achieving," he said.

Lenigas said Rincon would continue to prioritise its wholly owned assets at Hasties while supporting Greatland’s exploration on the JV ground.

"Our plans at Telfer South are to assist Greatland as best we can on these 200 square kilometres of JV ground whilst we concentrate on drilling up our Hasties Main and Hasties South-East gold/copper resources further through 2026, where we see considerable upside after the results just received from the recent drilling there," he said.

He added that access to Telfer’s established infrastructure could be a key advantage should mining proceed.

"If a decision to mine is made and Rincon maintains a JV interest, specific terms have been included in the agreement that JV ore will be toll processed at Greatland’s Telfer mine and infrastructure, pursuant to a toll processing agreement based on principles that are be set out in the farm-in agreement. This would give the JV the opportunity to leverage the significant and efficient Telfer infrastructure for the benefit of both parties," Lenigas said.

Greatland MD Shaun Day said the company welcomed the opportunity to expand exploration activity south of Telfer.

“The Paterson Province is relatively underexplored and highly prospective, and we want to champion and enable increased exploration activity in the region. The Telfer South JV ground borders our own South-East Hub project (a series of satellite deposits on existing mining leases) where we are busy drilling this year, so we welcome the ability to extend that opportunity further south along strike.”

Day noted that the proximity to Telfer’s processing infrastructure enhanced the project’s potential economics.

“The Telfer South ground is within approximately 30 km of our Telfer mill, which is one of the largest in Australia and provides for very cost effective processing. If our exploration at Telfer South is successful, it presents an opportunity to leverage our substantial infrastructure for the benefit of the JV, including through toll processing ore. We look forward to getting an exploration program underway,” he said.

Rincon said its near-term focus would be on expanding the mineral resource at the Hasties Main and Hasties South-East deposits, with an updated mineral resource estimate targeted for the first quarter of 2026, followed by further drilling later in the year to test strike and depth extensions.