Arafura Resources derives its name from the Arafura Sea, the body of water which lies to Australia’s north between the Northern Territory and New Guinea. Arafura Sea comes from the Portuguese mare aurifera, meaning ‘sea of gold’. The name dates back to 1623, when shipwrecked Portuguese were said to have seen gold-studded quartz on the coast of Arnhem Land.

Land was acquired on the basis that it was large and available and in geologically prospective areas with known mineralisation and the areas had little or no modern exploration.

The portfolio was assembled to target "company making" prospects. Where possible, they were located in regional proximity for ease of planning. Ground was carefully selected which then enabled the Company to present a balanced and prospective suite of tenements to seed capital investors in the early days.

Arafura’s sound structure and good prospective ground encouraged people to support this fledgling junior explorer. Wise decisions by the Board in the early life of the Company has allowed for steady growth.

Prior to listing, Arafura had undertaken extensive geological and development work on granted areas and successfully negotiated with the relevant Native Title Councils for access agreements on a number of application areas.

The result was that at the time of listing, Arafura had either title to or applications for some 12,000 km² of highly prospective ground in the under-explored Northern Territory of Australia.

The Company is now pursuing the wealth that these projects hold. They include:

• Nolans rare earths-phosphate-uranium project.
• Mt Porter and Kurinelli gold projects.
• Hammer Hill nickel joint venture with Mithril Resources Ltd.
• Jervois vanadium project.