Tivan adds strategic ground to Timor-Leste copper-gold project
Tivan has secured a 50 km² exploration concession immediately north of its Turiscai project in Timor-Leste, subject to formal regulatory grant. The addition would lift the project to eight licences covering approximately 394 km² ahead of planned maiden drilling in the fourth quarter.
- 50 km² concession awarded through Timor-Leste’s competitive 2025 minerals tender
- Turiscai footprint to expand from seven to eight licences
- Total project area to reach approximately 394 km² after formal grant
- Surface samples have returned copper grades up to 23.1% and gold up to 7.19g/t
- Magnetic drone survey continues ahead of planned Q4 maiden drilling
Tivan Limited (ASX:TVN) has added a 50 km² block to its Turiscai copper-gold project in Timor-Leste, expanding a contiguous exploration position that the company plans to test with maiden drilling later this year. The licence award is meaningful for scale, but it is not yet a granted mining right: Tivan has accepted the tender result and must still progress through the formal regulatory grant process.
New concession extends Turiscai to 394 km²
Exploration and Evaluation Licence MEL2025-CA-ZC004 sits immediately north of Tivan’s existing Turiscai tenure, within the upper Laclo catchment. If formally granted, it will take the project from seven to eight licences and increase its total area to approximately 394 km².
The award came through Timor-Leste’s Second Minerals Tender 2025, a competitive process administered by the National Mineral Authority, Autoridade Nacional dos Minerais. Tivan said it was the successful bidder for the concession after a process that assessed applicants’ technical capability, financial capacity, health and safety systems, environmental practices, local-content commitments and proposed exploration programs.
Surface results support further copper-gold work
Tivan considers the expanded area prospective for copper-gold mineralisation, including porphyry and volcanogenic massive sulphide-style deposits. The company points to geological similarities with the settings of Grasberg in Indonesia and Ok Tedi, Wafi-Golpu and Panguna in Papua New Guinea, although those comparisons do not establish the presence, scale or economic value of a deposit at Turiscai.
Earlier mapping and rock-chip sampling across the broader project returned assays of up to 23.1% copper, 7.19 grams per tonne gold and 6.17% zinc. Samples also recorded anomalous silver, bismuth and selenium, which Tivan identifies as pathfinder elements commonly associated with porphyry systems. These are surface exploration results rather than a mineral resource estimate, and the filing gives no indication that an economic deposit has been defined.
Mapping and drone survey lead into maiden drilling
Following formal grant, Tivan plans to begin with geological reconnaissance, mapping and systematic surface geochemical sampling across the new concession. Those results will be combined with existing geological, geochemical and geophysical datasets to identify structural trends and prioritise targets.
The company’s geology team is already conducting a large-scale magnetic drone survey at Turiscai. Executive chairman Grant Wilson said the survey is intended to support the commencement of maiden drilling in the final quarter of 2026 (ASX:TVN). The next useful test for the enlarged ground will be whether the new surface and geophysical data can turn a larger exploration footprint into drill-ready targets.
Bottom Line?
The concession increases Turiscai’s scale and exploration options, but the immediate catalysts remain formal grant, survey results and evidence from maiden drilling rather than the licence award itself.
Questions in the middle?
- When will MEL2025-CA-ZC004 receive formal regulatory grant?
- Will mapping, geochemistry and magnetic data identify coherent drill targets across the new ground?
- Can planned Q4 drilling demonstrate mineralisation continuity or scale beyond the surface indications?
