Tempus Resources is based in Perth, Western Australia. It was incorporated on 18 April 2018 for the primary purpose of acquiring a 90% interest in Montejinni Resources Pty Ltd, which is the registered holder of EL31539 (the Montejinni Project) in the Northern Territory and EL 6153 (the Claypan Dam Project) in South Australia. Tempus listed on the ASX in August 2018, and has recently entered into agreements to acquire additional gold assets in Canada and Ecuador.

Tempus currently has 2 gold projects in the Zamora region of Ecuador (prospects located adjacent to Fruta Del Norte) and Blackdome-Elizabeth in Canada.

Directors of Tempus have in the past been associated with: Azanga Uranium Corporation, Rio Tinto, Kennecott Australia, Freeport McMoran Indonesia and Union Carbide amongst others.

ECUADOR

La Cordillera del Cóndor. Image credit: Escuela Politechnica Nacional

Tempus has a binding agreement to acquire two Ecuadorian companies, Condor Gold S.A. and MiningSources S.A. These two companies own three exploration concessions (known as the Rio Zarza Project) totalling 1000ha, and the Valle del Tigre Project totalling 2195ha. They are adjacent to the controversial Fruta del Norte gold mine (owned by Lundin Gold and Newcrest) in south-east Ecuador. Initial exploring of Rio Zarza concessions was conducted by Canadian company Ecometals Limited between 2008-2012.

Rio Zarza’s eastern boundary is 850m west of the Fruta del Norte deposit, whilst Valle del Tigre is located north of FDN.

Both Ecuadorian concessions are located in the Cordillera del Cóndor mountain system, in the highlands of the Zamora River catchment, in the headwaters of the Amazon River. Tropical rainforest canopies cover most of the concessions except where they have been cleared for agriculture. The area is significant for its biodiversity, with a high level of endemism in flora and fauna. The vegetation of the lower Montane Forest is dense with abundant epiphytes and the soil is covered with a dense network of tree roots up to 1 metre deep. Many species in the Cordillera del Cóndor are still to be classified. This forest will be destroyed during exploration activities and if mining goes ahead.

Tempus received a water permit allowing for drilling at Rio Zarza in February 2020. Drilling was again planned to commence in June 2020 after the evaluation of tenders.

 

Background

In January 2010, Ecometals sold its interest in the Condor Gold Project in southern Ecuador to Alca Gold Limited. The sale of Condor (which included Condor Mining Corp and Condorview SA), helped finance Ecometals gold projects at Rio Zarza and manganese, gold and iro ore projects in Brazil. (Interestingly, 10 per cent holdings in both companies belonged to Holding Dine SA, controlled by a military office affiliated with the state of Ecuador). Ecometals (previously known as Goldmarca) had been interested in the Condor project since 2002.

Drilling at Rio Zarza was  approved in 2011 where 9 holes were drilled. Shares in Ecometals increased substantially in October 2011 after a gold discovery was made within the Rio Zarza gold project. In April 2012, Ecometals were given approval by the Ecuadorian Government via an Environmental License to further drill in the Rio Zarza project,

Current Tempus Non-Executive Director of Tempus, Gary Artmont has been associated with Tempus’s Rio Zarza and Valle del Tigre properties since 2007, serving as a consultant to Ecometals Limited, the previous owners of the properties.

CANADA

Blackdome-Elizabeth Gold Project. Image credit: Tempus Resources

The Blackdome-Elizabeth Gold Project consists of two gold mineralisation zones. The Elizabeth zone is located 200km north of Vancouver. Blackdome, located 30km north of Elizabeth was an old gold mine which produced 225,000 oz/gold at 20 g/t. Tempus have also proposed to recover gold from the tailings at Blackdome. Drilling started at Elizabeth in June/July 2019 and in 2019 Tempus raised $4m to fund its next stage of exploration. Further exploration is expected to occur around May/June 2020.

In May 2020, a trading halt occurred on the ASX due to capital raising by Tempus. The company also announced high grade ore discovery at their Mineral Creek property 10km east of  Port Alberni on British Colombia, one of the assets acquired during the acquisition of Sona Resources.

AUSTRALIA

The Montejinni Project is located near Top Springs in the Northern Territory. Copper and zinc exploration had initially been conducted between 1968 and 1997 by Renison Goldfields, Stockdale, Tipperary Land Corporation and Metals Exploration

The Claypan Dam Project is located in the Gawler Craton of South Australia. The project could include a number of minerals including iron oxide copper gold (IOCG), nickel–copper, iron–titanium‐phosphate (FTP), rare earth elements and banded iron formation (BIF) ore deposits.