Active on several fronts at once, Aragon Resources is intent on re-starting and expanding one of the Murchison's historic mining operations.

Attracting considerably greater attention than in recent years, the Murchison region of WA is reviving a large-scale gold production profile.

Hence, just shy of a 2.5 year ASX listing anniversary, Aragon grabbed an opportunity for a slice of the action, acquiring the Murchison Big Bell operation and 33,400 hectares of contiguous regional tenements including identified JORC resources of 1.49 million ounces in January this year.

"We had the ability and the cash plus the desire to grow the company quickly through the acquisition of a project that was further advanced," Aragon chief executive officer Paul Benson told RESOURCESTOCKS.

"This is clearly an area of excellent past production, but apart from the mining there's plenty of current development potential due to exploration upside that hasn't fully been realised. This area hosts multi-million ounce deposits, but despite its history a lot of our own holdings are underexplored. We're looking at new discoveries in each field.

"We've inherited a lot of historical data and just need to continue the validation work and combine this with modern exploration techniques."

Aragon struck immediate success, not only in independent and company evaluations of operations and holdings, but in extension and regional exploration drilling initiated within a month of the acquisition.

Aragon's holdings host multiple open pit and underground deposits within a 15 kilometre radius, contained within three gold fields that have produced a total 5Moz. Two of the fields host multi-million ounce deposits defined to significantdepths, with mineralisation open in numerous directions.

In hindsight, then, Aragon's success probably should come as little surprise. Results and progress within each field - Murchison Bell, Day Dawn and Cuddingwarra - have exceeded even Aragon's initial hopes. A mining decision on Big Bell is expected by early 2011 and Day Dawn mining studies plus a resource upgrade are imminent.

The quartz reef structures at the Day Dawn Goldfield have delivered excellent results from two high-grade deposits, Great Fingall and Golden Crown. In addition, Aragon has tested another potential high-grade reef repetition, the Trenton deposit just south of Great Fingall and Golden Crown, with drilling returning 2.7 metres at 10.8 grams per tonne gold from 344.3m. With Golden Crown defined to a vertical depth of 650m and Great Fingall to 1000m, each with ore systems open down plunge, results like the following are considered more than encouraging.

Golden Crown: 9.3m at 14.65gpt gold from 712m, including 3.4m at 37.54gpt gold (main reef); 5m at 10.36gpt gold from 714m, including 0.85m at 37.85gpt gold (main reef); and 2.1m at 6.06gpt gold from 743m, including 0.55m at 18.3gpt gold (footwall splay).

Great Fingall: 2.9m at 26.55gpt gold from 728.1m, including 0.35m at 212gpt gold (main reef); and 2.9m at 14.83gpt gold from 560.8m, including 0.6m at 45gpt gold (main reef).

"All the results at Great Fingall and Golden Crown have really been very pleasing," Benson said.

"Particularly when you see the continued high grades at depth and the deposit thicknesses at Crown. We can see the reef extending well beyond the current resource limits. You can see the potential at Golden Crown when you see how deep Great Fingall has been defined. There's absolutely no reason the (Golden Crown) reef is not going to continue as Great Fingall, given the results to date and these reefs are just 500 metres apart.

"Given the very high ounces per vertical metre from the historical production, we can definitely see the potential for further resources and for Golden Crown and Great Fingall to operate as one high grade production source."

Day Dawn represents just one chapter of the unfolding Aragon tale. Within the Murchison Bell Goldfield, mine studies are underway for the historic and recognised world-class underground Big Bell, following an independent geotechnical assessment which determined the mine could be re-entered and restarted.

Aragon commenced proving further Big Bell resources and has defined a new maiden resource just south of the mine at the North Fender deposit. This is already considered an open pit target, but results have indicated potential additional resources at depth.

Within Big Bell, mineralisation has been identified to 1500m, providing further potential resource upside.

"The Big Bell shear zone covers 25km, yet only three mines have been defined to date," Benson said.

"Hence our confidence in its excellent near-mine and exploration potential for further large-scale deposits."

While progressing the Big Bell potential, Aragon is also compiling results from an initial 5000m of air core drilling within the Cuddingwarra Goldfield.

Again, Aragon is expecting significant exploration upside.

The field hosts eight remnant open pits with historic production totalling 800,000oz. As with Big Bell, the Cuddingwarra Shear Zone holds significant potential, extending 20km throughout the tenement package.

Recent drilling has returned 2m at 62.8gpt gold from 12m, highlighting Cuddingwarra's potential for large-tonnage, near-surface finds. Hence, Aragon has been quick to initiate testing of 3km strike of primary extension targets and to commence pit optimisations.

"We have drill targets here that were identified but never fully tested by [previous owner] Harmony [Gold]," Benson said.

Backed by $6.6 million cash (June 30, 2010) and $3.3 million of cashback performance bonds and holding no debt, Aragon is keen to develop Central Murchison while retaining three other WA projects and an interstate joint venture. One of the joint ventures, the Ammaroo phosphate/potash project in the Northern Territory, constitutes a major focus of explorer Rum Jungle Uranium, which has opted to earn an initial 60% and up to 70%. Despite the Ammaroo farm-out during the June quarter this year, Aragon is decidedly happy to hold such an asset.

"It's just that we risk spreading ourselves too thin when we have excellent near-term production potential from the Murchison," Benson said.

Aragon is happy to retain another JV, the greenfields Maitland project held 49:51 with Alamar Resources in WA's Yandal greenstone belt.

It is also keen to realise the potential value of the contained Mission and Cables gold prospects within another WA gold project, Lake Darlot. Mission and Cables indicated their respective potentials in early drilling, underscoring the potential to readily joint-venture this project as needed.

"These other projects have excellent potential, but we are not wanting to dilute our focus," Benson said. "By joint-venturing these, we can gain the best amount of value."

Aragon's 100%-held Lake Lefroy nickel project near Kambalda in the WA goldfields has attracted a $75,000 drilling grant for 2010/11. SQUID electromagnetic surveying has defined a priority drill target and the company hopes to test this by late this year or early 2011.

"But clearly our focus is our Central Murchison gold project," Benson said. "We are not entertaining partners for this one. We have shown we can define new resource ounces, have established a site base at Cue and are expecting to be considering development options by the beginning of 2011.

"This is an excellent project for Aragon. We floated in 2007 and, like a lot of other companies, were affected by the global financial crisis. Now we have excellent results, mining studies underway and near-term feasibility. We're on a drive to production."

* This report, first published in the November/December 2010 edition of RESOURCESTOCKS magazine, was commissioned by Aragon Resources