Carnaby Resources is expanding its Greater Duchess project ground by 77 per cent through a farm-in agreement with Rio Tinto.

Carnaby can achieve a 51 per cent joint venture interest in Rio’s Devoncourt project by sole funding $5 million in exploration work over the next five years.

“The Devoncourt farm-in with Rio Tinto Exploration gives Carnaby a unique opportunity for a junior to explore for a Tier 1-sized target within a world class mineral field and jurisdiction,” managing director Rob Watkins said.

“These types of opportunities are rare and while the risks of exploration are evident, the potential rewards are many times the market capitalisation of Carnaby.

“We believe that in conjunction with the highly successful ongoing exploration and potential development of the Greater Duchess project, Devoncourt represents a highly accretive addition to the existing exploration targets within the Greater Duchess area.”

Related: High-grade copper hits keep coming for Carnaby

Devoncourt incorporates the Wimberu prospect discovered by Rio Tinto in 2019, with drilling delivering individual metre grades up to 4.3 per cent copper.

It adds 838sq km of high-potential tenure to Carnaby’s Greater Duchess project, taking the total area to 1921sq km.

Greater Duchess has delivered a string of high-grade copper-gold discoveries for Carnaby including Mount Hope, Nil Desperandum and Lady Fanny.

Below: A presentation on the Devoncourt project.