iTech Minerals ramps up activities with ATO provision and diverse mineral targets
iTech Minerals (ASX: ITM) has announced it will receive $1.25 million from the Australian Taxation Office as part of its Junior Minerals Exploration Incentive (JMEI).
The JMEI allows eligible exploration companies to create refundable tax credits for distribution to eligible investors in the form of tax offsets (for individual shareholders, trusts and superannuation funds) or franking credits (for corporate investors).
Credits that can be issued to any one investor are limited to the amount paid to acquire new shares multiplied by iTech’s corporate tax rate for that period.
Exploration success
The new tax credits come at a time when iTech is also experiencing exploration success on several fronts.
In the Northern Territory, iTech obtained gold assays of up to 182 grams per tonne from rock chip sampling at its Reynolds Range project.
iTech signed two binding tenement sale and purchase agreements in late February with Prodigy Gold (ASX: PRX) to acquire 100% of its interest in three tenements in the Reynolds Range area.
The company’s “bonanza” results came after it fast-tracked gold assays from the project to gain an early indication of its gold potential after a recent sampling program.
Multi-element opportunity
Located approximately 200 kilometres north-north-west of Alice Springs, the Reynolds Range project covers a total of 375 sq km in the Aileron Province.
While previous exploration focused on copper, gold and silver, iTech is also targeting rare earth elements and lithium mineralisation in the area.
The initial success at Reynolds Range has provided iTech with the confidence to also advance exploration for copper and gold at the project.
iTech is currently developing drill targets at Scimitar, where there is a significant untested electromagnetic anomaly believed to be associated with nearby outcropping mineralisation.
Graphite play
iTech has also had recent success in developing a significant graphite play on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula.
iTech has obtained exceptional recoveries of around 93% using an industry-standard flotation circuit on a 3.4kg bulk concentrate sample of graphite from its Lacroma graphite project.
The next step will be to assess the bulk sample with test work aimed at producing a purified spherical graphite product that meets industry standards for battery anode material in lithium-ion batteries.
The company has also reported a 300% resource upgrade at its nearby Eyre Peninsula graphite project, with the estimate now 35.2 million tonnes at 6.0% total graphitic carbon.