RAIDEN RESOURCES
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MINING | Raiden Resources
RAIDEN RE
Serbia-focused copper-gold j
ESOURCES
junior partners with Rio Tinto
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MINING | Raiden Resources
Formerly known as Subzero Group, Raiden Resources was relisted on the ASX in February 2018. In the months building up to its revival, the firm busied itself with the takeover of Timok Resources, which heralded the dawn of Raiden’s entry into the recently revived resource sector of Serbia. Through the acquisition of Timok Resources, Raiden gained ownership of two wholly-owned Serbian entities, giving it access to a number of highly prospective coppergold projects in the Eastern European nation. Then, in an unprecedented development for a recently listed junior, Raiden executed an option to an earn in agreement with Rio Tinto, merely one month after it assumed control of its Serbian assets. The restructuring process at Raiden saw Dusko Ljubojevic appointed managing director along with several other appointments at board level. Ljubojevic is a highly experienced geologist of Balkan descent who has spent many years with juniors and major companies across Africa, Asia, Australia, North America and Eastern Europe, including in Serbia. “That was one of the reasons I came on board,” he says. “We started focusing on this region because we were aware of the
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MINING | Raiden Resources
Limestone ridge potential it has as a re-emerging copper-gold
Timok acquisition that Raiden was able to
producing district, which despite the fact
establish a foothold in Serbia’s mining sector
that it has and continues to yield world-class
under its new identity. The board’s ultimate
discoveries, remains underexplored.”
goal is to explore its projects and continue to expand the extensive copper-gold portfolio in
Working in Serbia is nothing new to many
solid jurisdictions. Ljubojevic believes Raiden
of the company’s new board members
has gained an enviable portfolio in a Tier 1
and management team and this previous
jurisdiction.
experience will provide Raiden with a major advantage as it begins to advance its Serbian
“This is about as good of a ground package
operations.
as any exploration company could hope to secure in its initial portfolio. The projects are
“We are essentially hitting the ground
situated within a district which is dominated
running. We are not evaluating a new
by major development companies such as
jurisdiction and are very comfortable here
Rio Tinto, Freeport McMoRan, JOGMEC (Japan
with the service providers, the regulators and
Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation),
we know how to operate in Serbia.”
and a number of producing state-owned mines. Plus, it is located in a favourable
However, it wasn’t until the completion of the
mining jurisdiction.”
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Magnetite sample In Serbia, Raiden holds a significant acreage
which is home to the Timok Magmatic
position of over 300 km², encompassing
Complex. Timok is a relatively small district
a sizeable portfolio of approximately six
which is one of the main copper producing
projects which are either granted or under
centres in Europe and has become the
application. The projects are at varying
focus of several international companies’
stages, from defined, drill ready targets, to
endeavours who have recently entered
early stage exploration projects, providing
Serbia.
the company with a solid pipeline of opportunities.
“Our portfolio includes two projects within Timok and the areas remain underexplored.
These projects are located in some of the
What we are targeting are porphyry copper-
most prospective geological regions of Serbia
gold and epithermal mineralisation which
and in some instances, these areas that have
constitute the Bor and Majdanpek deposits
seen little to no modern exploration activity
and have been actively mined for decades
to date. “This provided a fantastic opportunity
by the Serbian state mining company, RTB
for an explorer to move in,” says Ljubojevic.
Bor.”
Most of the projects are located within the
Ljubojevic explains how there are possibly
Carpatho-Balkan zone in Eastern Serbia,
further extensions of Timok style geology
MINING | Raiden Resources
“SERBIA IS PROBABLY THE MO DESTINATION FOR MINING IN EUR THE NUMBER OF MAJOR CO DUSKO LJUBOJEVIC, M which strikes South towards the Bulgarian border, where the company has secured three more projects – Donje Nevlje, Pirot and Stara Planina – all of which are conducive for porphyry style and intrusion related mineralisation. Focusing on the Stara Planina project, it has two large geochemically defined anomalies
both of these in equal
which were confirmed by geophysics
measure: “Serbia is
undertaken by Raiden in late 2017. The
probably the most favourable
geophysics correlated very well with the
investment destination for mining and
surficial geochemistry and will be followed
exploration companies in Europe, and that is
up in the company’s maiden drill programme
reflected in the number of major companies
this year.
in the country.
This is just one example of the promising
“It’s a relatively small country and you have
geology and targets which are a hallmark of
a number of global development companies
Raiden’s Serbian portfolio. Any mining firm in
competing for the acreage, which says a lot
the world would say that the geology of any
about the quality of the jurisdiction and the
given host region is central to the chances of
prospectivity of the geology.”
a successful project, but equally important is the quality of the host jurisdiction.
Modern mining has taken place in Serbia for over a century, therefore it has a very
According to Ljubojevic, Serbia provides
well-established mining workforce that is
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OST FAVOURABLE INVESTMENT ROPE, AND THAT IS REFLECTED IN OMPANIES IN THE COUNTRY” MANAGING DIRECTOR The Rio Tinto JV agreement has undoubtedly been the most significant news item coming out of Raiden during its first few months of operation, but what will the US$31 million earn-in deal actually translate into for the junior? very costcompetitive in comparison with many Western jurisdictions. Infrastructure is also highly developed as a legacy of the former Socialist state, when extensive road and rail systems were constructed throughout the
“In the short run, it allows us to focus our own initial funding and time on our most advanced asset – the Stara Planina project,” noted Ljubojevic. Raiden is well cashed up with a budget of over $4 million, meaning it can properly test the large targets at its most advanced project.
entire country. “In the medium term it provides us with a In fact, rail systems run right through most of
partner with not just ability to finance, but
Raiden’s projects and power is probably the
also has experience and technical skills in this
cheapest in Europe, says Ljubojevic. When
geological environment and targeting these
it gets there, the company will also benefit
porphyry systems.
from an in-country smelter facility and good transportation links to neighbouring
“In the long run, Rio Tinto is a partner which
countries via rail, leading to numerous ports.
has the ability to not just explore but to develop in case there will be a discovery. We
MINING | Raiden Resources
Malachite and azurite within porphyry
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Andesite porphyry, showing varying degrees of alteration and leaching are in partnership with somebody that can
are prospective for porphyry systems.”
add some real long-term value.” Under its new incarnation, Raiden has Capturing the attention of one of the world’s
already achieved what most junior mining
largest mining companies, not even one
companies can only dream of. The company’s
month into its relisting, is a major affirmation
JV with Rio Tinto will provide it significant
of the quality of Raidens’ portfolio and the
upside potential on the joint venture
management team’s ability to close the deal.
properties, while allowing it to fast-track its other more advanced projects aggressively.
“Many juniors state they are targeting Tier 1 deposits, but in our case this has been
In the mining industry, the story always ends
confirmed,” Ljubojevic declares.
in production. But, for Raiden the focus will continue to centre on discovery in a region
“A company like Rio Tinto is after Tier 1 deposits. By entering into this agreement with us, it signals to the market that our projects
ASX:RDN
which continues to produce Tier 1 assets.
Published by Anderson Murray Media Ltd
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