JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Aim-listed Hummingbird Resources has agreed to sell its Ensign Resources subsidiary, which owns the Asheba licence, in Ghana, to private West African exploration business Taoudeni Resources.

The disposal would allow Hummingbird to focus on developing its six-million-ounce gold inventory at its core projects in West Africa, including the Yanfolila  gold project, in Mali, which was advancing toward construction. 

Hummingbird would receive 10% of the total share capital of Taoudeni and a discovery bonus of $1/oz in 500 000 oz increments on discovery at the Asheba licence, which currently had a gold inventory of 176 000 oz at 1.8 g/t.

Hummingbird, which acquired the asset from Gold Fields as part of a package of projects in 2014, retained the right to buy back a 10% interest in the project for $7-million upon publication of a feasibility study.

"This transaction allows us to participate in the upside of both Asheba and Taoudeni as its team unlock the gold project's potential value with no capital commitment required by Hummingbird. With earthworks under way at our flagship Yanfolila gold project, we remain focused on delivering our first gold pour and near-term cash flow,” Hummingbird CEO Dan Betts said.

Taoudeni Resources executive director Niall Tomlinson added that Asheba was a complementary asset to the company’s interests elsewhere in West Africa.

“In addition to the defined gold mineralisation from exploration undertaken by Gold Fields, we believe there is significant potential for the delineation of additional gold mineralisation,” he noted.

The large historic database, including over 20 000 m of reverse circulation and diamond core data, provided Taoudeni with an opportunity to efficiently deliver a maiden Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant mineral resource estimate.

“We are looking forward to advancing the project through an initial campaign of data validation including re-sampling of the core that is present at the project,” Tomlinson noted.