JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Minerals exploration company GoldStone Resources was pursuing a number of projects, in various stages of development, in Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Tanzania, in addition to its potential mining prospects in West Africa and India, it said on Monday.

Reporting on its financial results for the year ended February 28, 2009, the Aim-listed company noted that it was planning to negotiate with one of its largest shareholders, GeoQuest, regarding the potential divestment of its interest in GoldStone.

GoldStone had, in June 2008, announced that it planned to acquire a 100% stake in the DR3-East Uranium project, in South Africa’s Western Cape province, from Hymrai Properties.

This was, however, subject to the exploration company getting approval from South Africa’s former Department of Minerals and Energy (DME), as well as a listing on the AltX.

The transaction was only approved by the DME in April this year, which made it necessary for GoldStone to make additional representations to the advisory committee of the JSE, it explained.

As there was no certainty that the AltX would grant the company the required approvals, it had decided not to pursue the listing, which meant that the acquisition agreement with Hymrai would lapse.

Any future acquisition by GoldStone of an interest in the project, or any other project in the Southern African Development Community, would require GeoQuest to divest its interest in the company or require GoldStone to list on the JSE, the company stated.

Meanwhile, the company reported that it had applied for eleven prospecting licences that formed part of its bauxite exploration project, in Guyana, in South America.

The Guyana Geology and Mines Commission had already approved the granting of eight of the prospecting licences, it added.

The company had also continued its exploration work on a number of potential gold prospects in Mali, Senegal and India.

It was expecting a prospecting permit for the Sangola licence, in Senegal, to be granted shortly, while a licence application was also under way in India.

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