Oz Minerals will put another $3 million in their Eloise Joint Venture near Cloncurry over the next two years due to inclusion of additional Minotaur tenements.
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The additional money doesn't change the share in the JV with Oz Minerals owning 70% and partner Minotaur the other 30%.
Oz Minerals have already sunk $10m into the project in three years, which had triggered the 30% co-investment clause by Minotaur.
Instead now, it will be Oz Minerals providing the extra funds, delaying the need for Minotaur to reach into their pockets for two years.
The change to the Eloise JV follows the creation of a new Jericho JV between the two companies.
Oz Minerals' additional funding will be used for exploration assessment of several new geophysical targets similar to Jericho.
After Oz Minerals' additional funding is spent, Minotaur can either co-contribute on a 30% basis or convert its interest to 20% and be 'loan carried' on similar terms as the new Jericho JV.
In the meantime Minotaur is preparing new targets after the Queensland Government told it it had priority application status for a large site next to the Eloise JV tenement.
To be called the 'Matilda' tenement, it has promising targets close to copper mineralised systems which the Eloise JV successfully drill tested at Iris-Electra in 2016.
Meanwhile a 2018 survey north-east of Eloise revealed another drill-ready target called Seer.
Matilda and Seer are now both part of the expanded Eloise JV.
Minotaur managing director Andrew Woskett welcomed Oz Minerals' new investment.
"The propensity for the Eloise JV tenements to reveal sizeable copper-gold systems is evidenced by the Iris-Electra mineralised systems and the Jericho deposit," Mr Woskett said.
"Minotaur's search technique, progressively refined since its acquisition of the tenement package late in 2013, is delivering results."
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