Timor-Leste seeking UN, ASEAN support to help ramp up mining exploration

Timor-Leste is planning a new airport and seeking further high-level international partnerships as the government aims to facilitate exploration of its inaugural mineral tenements, the chairman of the nation's mining regulator told S&P Global Commodity Insights.

As the country seeks to join the global search for energy transition metals, 2023 has been pivotal in expanding the sector's focus beyond "small mining activities" for construction materials like sand and gravel, Rafael Danilson Magno de Araújo, board chairman and president of Autoridade Nacional dos Minerais (ANM), said in an email interview.

"Capacity development" will be a key priority in 2024 as ANM looks to collaborate with outside institutions, including the UN and Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states, to learn about best practices for managing its mineral resources, de Araújo said.

The regulator is also working to build a strong legal framework, he said.

Rafael Danilson Magno de Araújo, board chairman and president of ANM. Source: Autoridade Nacional dos Minerais

"Speaking from the regulatory point of view, managing the exploration of metallic [minerals] is something new and quite challenging to us," de Araújo said.

Facilitating explorers' needs

The government has "invested significant amounts of money to the development of public infrastructure such as roads, bridges, electricity, water and port," de Araújo said. But there is still much work to be done.

"Access to exploration sites might be an issue, considering that most of the minerals are [present] in remote areas," de Araújo said.

ANM has identified some strategies to be discussed with explorers, local governments and communities to improve access to rural areas, including private land, de Araújo said.

"Timor is basically a mountain range with a beach around it, so there are logistical challenges," Dario Bongiovanni, managing director of business consultancy Capricornio, told Commodity Insights. "They have built some good roads from Dili to Baucau in the north. It's not impenetrable tropical forests."

Timor-Leste has some easy land access as the country is "crisscrossed with major roads, secondary roads and tracks," Ross Brown, founder of exploration consultancy Riviere Minerals Pty. Ltd., told Commodity Insights.

Beacon Minerals Ltd. expects operations to be hampered by heavy rains from December through March, Chairman and Managing Director Graham McGarry said. But Brown said conditions are "no more difficult than any other jurisdiction I've worked in."

"When I was in Peru, the company was left to fend for itself to get traditional owner access and land agreements, but ANM is really proactive in facilitating that process," said Brown, who ran Latin America-focused copper explorer Inca Minerals Ltd. for a decade until 2022.

Assays and drill rigs

Tibar Bay Port is built to international standards and has service providers that are able to "respond [to] the logistics needs" of explorers, de Araújo said.

Assay samples will likely be sent to Australian labs, and the open border between Timor-Leste and Indonesia will provide for easy access to drill rigs from Indonesia's thriving mining sector, Brown said.

"I'm focusing on mineralization appearing at surface, so I don't see the need to rush into drilling anyway, as a number of programs will be done just by surface sampling," Brown said. "We can explore all year round, including drilling. The Chinese built a sealed road along the length of the country, and the access is so much better than the Kimberley [region] in Western Australia, where regions can be washed out. It's not the case in Timor-Leste."

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