Exploration company Pacific Bauxite has revealed it will not proceed with a contentious name change despite gaining shareholder approval this year.
Shareholders in the exploration company approved a change of name to Julimar Minerals at a general meeting on January 31.
They also approved multiple other resolutions associated with a planned recapitalisation of the company, which has been in administration since December 2019.
The company subsequently announced that it would not go ahead with the change of name “for various reasons, including following discussions with a neighbouring operator”.
That is presumably a reference to Chalice Mining, which is the company behind the spectacular Julimar discovery.
The proposed change of name was meant to occur in tandem with a new focus on four early-stage exploration projects – the PGE projects – that are prospective for platinum group metals, gold, nickel and copper.
That is the same commodity mix as Chalice’s Julimar project, which is shaping up to be a big mining development 70 kilometres east of Perth following its discovery in 2020.
In its notice of meeting, issued on December 31, Pacific Bauxite said it was “emboldened by Chalice’s exploration success” and was seeking to replicate its exploration philosophy.
However, Pacific Bauxite director Peter Lewis insisted the company not trying to piggyback Chalice’s success by taking its project name.
Asked about the proposed name early this year, he said the company’s legacy project – the Darling Range bauxite project – was located near Julimar forest and intersected by Julimar Road.
He did not mention that the Darling Range project – where Pacific Bauxite plans to explore for nickel, copper and platinum – is also located adjacent to Chalice’s Julimar project.
Pacific Bauxite has also lodged a prospectus to raise $4.5 million to progress its restructuring and relisting.
Its restructuring includes the sale of a bauxite project in the Solomon Islands and the acquisition of the four PGE projects in the Goldfields and Pilbara.
