Rajasooriar to lead Noronex Namibian copper charge
ASX listed Noronex Limited has picked up experienced mining industry player Victor Rajasooriar as its new managing director and chief executive officer in a move set to realise its ambitions across the coveted Kalahari Copper Belt in southern Africa.
Rajasooriar, a mining engineer with over 25 years of global experience, officially takes the helm next week and brings with him a resume tailor-made for emerging resource plays. It includes various senior positions at industry giants Newmont Mining and Gold Fields Ltd.
Rajasooriar is no stranger to the junior mining game either, having carved out a reputation with stints at Breakaway Resources, Panoramic Resources and Siren Gold.
Although his hands-on experience stretches from early-stage explorers all the way to producers, a key chapter of his career was spent at mining contractor Barminco between 2014 and 2018. There, as Chief Operating Officer, he ran the company's contract mining operations across Australia and Africa, including the Zone 5 copper mine in Botswana.
However, it was at Echo Resources where Rajasooriar turned a few heads. Taking charge of the then-$43 million junior, he propelling it into the spotlight with a rapid rise that saw its value skyrocket. In less than a year, Echo's market cap had touched $243 million and the company was ultimately snapped up by Northern Star in a takeover.
Rajasooriar has also contributed some skin in the game to his Noronex appointment with a $100,000 commitment to 7.1 million new shares at 1.4 cents each, subject to shareholder approval.
The mining veteran landed his new job after current director James Thompson decided to step down from all managerial and directorship roles with the company following six years of involvement.
Thompson founded Noronex privately in 2018, helped assemble the company's original copper asset base and crafted the acquisition strategy for the Kalahari Copper Belt. He intends to remain a shareholder.
Rajasooriar has joined at an exciting time for Noronex as it looks to unlock the potential of its extensive copper portfolio in Namibia including a 10Mt resource grading 1.3 per cent copper at the company's Witvlei project.
In total, Noronex's exploration package spans a massive 10,000 square kilometres of the Kalahari Copper Belt. The highly prospective region is also home to Chinese-backed MMG's massive 7 million tonne Cupric copper mine and Sandfire Resources' Motheo mine with 700,000 tonnes of contained copper.
About 130 kilometres northeast of Witvlei, Noronex has its foot on two further projects called Humpback and Damara. Drilling is underway at the early-stage Damara grounds to test the margins of mineralisation, however, the real excitement is currently at the Fiesta prospect within its Humpback leases.
Stretching across 4.5 kilometres, reverse circulation drilling at Fiesta has unearthed several copper equivalent hits from 80m downhole including 45m grading 1.0per cent, 30m running at 1.1 per cent and 16m at 1.3 per cent. The results have been enough to convince mega base metal miner, South 32 to join the party.
Last year, the two signed an earn-in agreement and strategic alliance to fund and accelerate ongoing exploration at Humpback and Damara. The deal, which provides Noronex with strong technical and strategic support also allows for South 32 to earn up to 60 percent of the project areas by spending $15 million in exploration over five years.
With drilling data covering more than 180,000m, strategic partnerships in place and fresh leadership now locked in, Noronex is gearing up for what could be a transformational chapter just as global copper demand surges and prices toy with new highs over US$10,200 (A$16,000) a tonne.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact:
matt.birney@wanews.com.au
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