AuKing Mining Adds to Malawi Portfolio with Green Exploration Acquisition from Tusker Minerals

AuKing Mining (ASX: AKN) has agreed to acquire 100% of Green Exploration from Tusker Minerals (ASX: TSK), adding the Machinga heavy rare earths project, Salambidwe rare earths project, Ngala Hill project, and Karonga copper project to its Malawi portfolio.

Tusker places the total combined consideration at up to $4.85 million through staged cash, AuKing shares, and performance-linked equity, while retaining beneficial ownership of its Mzimba rutile licences for transfer out of Green after completion.

AuKing plans to prioritise the enlarged portfolio after completion and is considering a copper-focused spin-off combining Ngala Hill and Karonga with its existing copper interests.

The transaction comes as AuKing builds momentum at its existing Tundulu rare earths project in southern Malawi, where its first diamond hole has been extended to 510.6m after continuing to encounter carbonatite geology.

Replaces Machinga Offer

The Green Exploration acquisition replaces the parties’ earlier exclusivity and proposed offer arrangement covering Machinga alone, with the Machinga licences instead remaining within Green Exploration as the Malawian subsidiary becomes wholly owned by AuKing.

AuKing identifies the incremental Green Exploration consideration beyond its previously agreed Machinga terms as $50,000 cash and $250,000 of shares at completion, another $50,000 within three months, and up to $500,000 of Ngala Hill performance shares.

Tusker’s consolidated terms comprise $800,000 cash at completion, $1.0m of AuKing shares priced at 2.5 cents, another $50,000 within 90 days and $1.25m after 12 months, plus up to $1.25m of performance-linked shares tied to Machinga reaching a compliant inferred or higher resource of at least 10 million tonnes at 0.65% total rare earth oxides using a 0.5% cut-off and $500,000 linked to specified Ngala Hill drilling thresholds.

Completion remains conditional on required approvals including ASX confirmation that full quotation re-compliance is not required, with the parties targeting satisfaction of conditions by 30 September and Tusker’s Mzimba West, Mzimba Central, and Mzimba South licences to be transferred out of Green Exploration by that date.

New Malawi Portfolio Targets

Salambidwe covers about 24.9 square kilometres and has not previously been drilled, although historical surface exploration returned rare earth and niobium anomalism including rock-chip results of up to 2.05% total rare earth oxides.

AuKing plans to reprocess and reinterpret existing geochemical and geophysical datasets at Salambidwe before targeted mapping and sampling, with the aim of defining targets for a maiden drilling program across the western and eastern anomalous trends.

Ngala Hill covers about 16.4 sq km and contains historical mineralisation involving platinum group elements, gold, and copper including broad trench results, although AuKing has not independently validated the historical exploration and plans modern geological, structural, and electromagnetic work before follow-up drilling.

Karonga is an earlier-stage copper opportunity across 36 sq km in northern Malawi where previous reconnaissance identified elevated copper values, with AuKing planning systematic surface work to determine whether more advanced exploration is warranted.

The proposed copper spin-off would combine Ngala Hill and Karonga with AuKing’s other copper interests, while its immediate exploration focus remains on its expanding rare earths position in southern Malawi.

Momentum from Tundulu Drilling

At Tundulu, AuKing has completed 4,300 metres of reverse circulation drilling across 31 holes, with geological logging identifying widespread carbonatite lithologies around Nathace Hill and at targets several hundred metres away.

The first diamond tail was originally planned to take its hole to 300m but continued carbonatite observations prompted drilling to 510.6m, where logging indicated the carbonatite geology remained open at depth and supported a broader and deeper geological interpretation.

Those observations remain preliminary, with seven export approvals secured for drilling samples and the first 1,270 samples already at Intertek’s Perth laboratory for analysis.

AuKing expects a substantial flow of assay and geological data over coming weeks and, depending on results, intends to begin preparing a maiden Tundulu Mineral Resource Estimate targeted for release before the end of the year.