Tivan secures new Baucau ground over major magnetic target

Baucau footprint expands over untested anomaly

Tivan Limited (ASX:TVN) has secured approval from Timor-Leste’s National Mineral Authority to enlarge its Baucau exploration licence by approximately 50 square kilometres, adding contiguous ground immediately east of the existing concession. The newly incorporated area contains a regional magnetic anomaly measuring about 2.5 kilometres by 1 kilometre, which Tivan says shares geometry and magnetic characteristics with prospective targets already identified at Baucau.

The anomaly is an exploration target, not a discovery. No drilling, mineral resource, reserve or economic assessment was reported in the announcement. Tivan’s immediate plan is to conduct geological mapping, field verification and targeted surface geochemical sampling, then extend high-resolution geophysical coverage across the enlarged ground.

Existing Baucau results raise the exploration stakes

Tivan is targeting copper and gold systems including porphyry and volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits. Within the existing project, rock-chip sampling at the Scorpion prospect has returned grades of up to 6.87% copper and 24.70 grams per tonne gold, while the Vemasse prospect contains a 300-metre copper, silver and zinc geochemical trend. Those results relate to earlier announcements and do not establish that the newly secured magnetic feature contains mineralisation.

The licence enlargement was made under Article 18 of Timor-Leste’s Mining Code, a mechanism allowing an exploration licence holder to seek additional ground where mineralisation is interpreted to extend beyond an existing boundary. Tivan said its application was supported by geological mapping and geophysical data indicating continuity of the geological and structural corridor into the added area.

Chairman’s X post drew ASX scrutiny

The exploration expansion arrives alongside a disclosure issue that has placed Tivan’s governance processes under the ASX microscope. Executive Chairman Grant Wilson acknowledged publishing a post from his personal X account on 6 September saying an announcement would be made before the next market open. Tivan told ASX the post was not authorised by the company or its board and was not made in accordance with its continuous disclosure policy.

The company also confirmed it had received final assay results from 574 rock-chip samples on 4 September, including copper grades up to 6.87% and gold grades up to 24.7 grams per tonne. Tivan said the data remained confidential, required geological review and was being assembled into a roughly 34-page announcement. The results were released at 6:36am AWST on 7 September, before trading began, and Tivan maintained that the post did not disclose assay grades or compromise the confidentiality of the results.

Local technical team expanded as work accelerates

Tivan has promoted senior geologist George Manton to Principal Geologist - Timor-Leste, with responsibility for oversight across the Baucau, Turiscai and Ossu projects. The company said its Timor-Leste staff now number 11 and that it is recruiting three additional geologists and a community relations officer for Baucau.

Following the ASX query, Tivan reminded Wilson and all directors and officers that company information intended for market release must not be communicated through any channel, including personal social media, before release through the ASX platform. The board said an existing social-media protocol had been reinforced, while Tivan confirmed it considered itself compliant with the listing rules.