Ajax Resources Plc (AQSE: AJAX; Euronext Growth Oslo: AJAXR) has completed the acquisition of a 74.79% interest in the Paguanta Project in northern Chile, securing control of an advanced-stage silver-zinc-lead asset with an established historical mineral resource and significant additional copper exploration potential.
The company confirmed that all conditions under its share purchase agreement with Asara Resources Limited have been satisfied, formally completing the transaction and expanding Ajax’s South American portfolio into Chile alongside its existing interests in Argentina and Brazil.
The initial acquisition consideration comprises US$50,000 in cash and 1,046,729 new ordinary shares issued at 25p each, with the shares valued at approximately US$350,000. The combined initial consideration is therefore approximately US$400,000.
The agreement also includes two potential deferred payments of US$500,000 each, linked to the achievement of substantial mineral reserve milestones.
The first would become payable following publication of a JORC-compliant Proven or Probable Ore Reserve exceeding 25 million tonnes at a grade of at least 5% zinc equivalent. The second would be triggered by a compliant Ore Reserve containing at least 5 million tonnes of copper.
Neither payment is immediately due, and Ajax has no contractual obligation to undertake exploration specifically to achieve the milestones.
Paguanta is located in Chile’s Tarapacá Region and comprises 14 granted exploration licences covering approximately 7,800 hectares. The project lies within the northern extension of the West Fissure metallogenic belt, which hosts several major copper deposits.
Previous operators have invested approximately US$31.5 million in exploration and technical work, including around 46,700 metres of diamond and reverse circulation drilling, metallurgical studies and historical development assessments.
The project also benefits from established access infrastructure, an exploration camp and approximately 1,800 metres of historical underground workings.
The principal deposit, Patricia, hosts a historical JORC 2012 Mineral Resource Estimate of 2.4 million tonnes grading 5.0% zinc, 1.4% lead, 88 grams per tonne silver and 0.3 grams per tonne gold.
The resource has a reported equivalent grade of 9.7% zinc equivalent or 236 grams per tonne silver equivalent, comprising approximately 1.1 million tonnes in the Measured and Indicated categories and 1.3 million tonnes Inferred.
Contained metal is estimated at approximately 6.8 million ounces of silver, 265 million pounds of zinc and 74 million pounds of lead.
These figures represent the project’s historical mineral resource estimate rather than an established economically mineable ore reserve. Ajax will need to assess the underlying technical information and determine what further work is required to support future development decisions.
Historical drilling indicates that Patricia remains open along strike and at depth, with one particularly high-grade intersection demonstrating the potential for mineralisation beneath the existing resource.
Drill hole PTDD-17-136 ended in a 0.8-metre interval grading 1,765g/t silver, 12% zinc, 7.5% lead and 1.7g/t gold.
The exceptional grade is confined to a narrow historical interval and should not be interpreted as representative of the wider deposit.
Further exploration opportunities have been identified south towards the Cumbre Prospect, where earlier drilling discovered the Lell Vein approximately 100 metres beyond the established Patricia resource.
One historical intersection returned 33.65 metres at 2.7% zinc, 0.8% lead and 32g/t silver, including a 9.8-metre interval at 5.5% zinc, 0.9% lead and 43g/t silver.
Approximately 700 metres of prospective ground between the southern extent of historical drilling and Cumbre remains largely unexplored.
Ajax has also highlighted additional mineralisation east of Patricia, where limited drilling previously intersected 16 metres at 209g/t silver and 10 metres at 2.5% zinc.
Beyond Patricia, the acquisition provides exposure to several underexplored copper targets, including La Rosa, Doris and Patricia East.
La Rosa contains an approximately 3km by 1km alteration zone associated with copper oxides and historical geophysical anomalies, which previous operators interpreted as potentially indicative of a porphyry-style copper system.
At Doris, surface sampling has identified copper mineralisation, while historical shallow drilling returned intersections including 3 metres at 1.3% copper and 160ppm silver and 1.7 metres at 2.5% copper and 50ppm silver.
Patricia East contains a 1km by 0.5km induced polarisation chargeability anomaly that remains undrilled, presenting another target for future evaluation.
Although these results provide exploration encouragement, the broader copper prospects remain insufficiently tested to establish mineral resources.
Historical development work at Patricia examined a three-year open-pit operation followed by approximately five to six years of underground mining, producing separate lead-silver and zinc-silver concentrates.
Subsequent studies considered a smaller underground operation incorporating ore-sorting technology. Historical tests demonstrated improvements in zinc-equivalent grades, although the later scoping study was not completed.
The existence of these earlier studies provides Ajax with a substantial technical starting point, but does not establish the current economic viability of constructing or operating a mine.
Chief Executive Ippolito Ingo Cattaneo described completion of the acquisition as an important milestone in the company’s expansion across South America.
He highlighted the combination of historical investment, an established polymetallic mineral resource and additional copper exploration targets as central to the acquisition’s appeal.
The company intends to use the extensive historical geological and technical information to evaluate the next stage of exploration and potential development.
For Ajax, the completed transaction secures a controlling interest in a project with an established historical resource and considerable previous exploration expenditure for relatively modest initial consideration.
The next challenge will be translating that technical foundation into an updated development strategy, including determining which resource extensions and copper targets warrant priority investigation.
The acquisition is now complete, with future progress dependent on further technical evaluation, exploration results and the economics of potential development at Paguanta.
