The Council of the Central Land Council has told the company it would execute the deed of exploration as well as an Indigneous Land Use Agreement (ILUA).
The decision follows discussion held by the company during July with Native Title holders and the Central Land Council. The native title holders gave the Central Land Council authority to execute an agreement with the company in accordance with the terms of the Land Rights Act.
“We will pay the native title holder a small royalty in the event of a discovery and we will use local workers whenever possible,” Rawson executive chairman John Conolly told EnergyReview.net.
“We think it’s a good deal that’s fair to both parties.”
Rawson Resources is offering up to 30 million shares at 20 through an issue sponsored by Bell Potter Securities with a minimum subscription target of $4 million.
In EP 97, Rawson was granted a 100% interest in a 12,700 square kilometre petroleum exploration permit, located onshore in the Pedirka Basin in the Northern Territory.
The Pedirka Basin is one of the most under-explored basins on the Australian mainland and it is adjacent to the Cooper Basin.
The permit itslef is comparable in size to the producing portion of the Cooper Basin and any discovery of economic quantities of hydrocarbons in the permit could significantly add to the value of Rawson.
“We have identified four potentially large prospects in the Pedirka,” Conolly said.
“They require some follow-up work, including seismic data reprocessing and new seismic data acquisition, before drilling, but some of them could be as large as 50 million barrels.”
The Dune, Dune West, Simpson and Bejah Prospects are large un-drilled anticlinal structures with the potential to hold highly significant recoverable reserves.
EP 97 is one of Rawson Resources’ five exploration permits. Its other blocks include low-risk prospects close to production areas.
Two of these are in the onshore Otway Basin (PEL 154 and PEL 155, both 100% Rawson).
The other two are in the Cooper Basin (PEL 107) and Surat Basin (ATP 552) and Rawson is earning a stakes in these blocks through farmins.
Rawson will earn a 50% interest in ATP 522P in the Surat Basin of Queensland, by paying 100% of the drilling of the proposed Bellbird West-1 exploration well, and a 50% interest in any hydrocarbon pool discovered in the western part of PEL 107 in South Australia, by paying 100% for the drilling of one, two or three wells.
