JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Vector Resources has announced that will proceed with the Kibali South and Nizi gold project joint venture (JV) acquisitions in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The company completed technical and legal due diligence and has notified Société Miniere de Kilo Moto (Sokimo) of its decision to proceed with the acquisition of up to 70% interest in the gold assets.

The Nizi gold project comprises a mining licence and hosts the old King Leopold gold mine which previously produced more than 1.45-million ounces of gold with grades averaging 30 g/t gold.

Once the agreement with Sokimo is finalised, Vector will target initial exploration around the King Leopold mine.

As part of the acquisition terms, a JV company will be established to advance Kibali South, while a development partnership will be executed for Nizi.

Vector said in a statement on Monday that due diligence had boosted the company’s confidence in the projects after failing to find any significant issues that could prevent the acquisition from moving forward.

Vector and Sokimo will negotiate the final terms for the JVs including Vector’s aim to develop the projects as standalone gold operations within two years of signing the formal JV agreements.

Kibali South includes two granted mining licences and hosts an historic resource of 28.1-million tonnes grading 1.63 g/t gold for 1.47-million ounces.

The project is adjacent to the Kibali gold mine, which has proved and probable gold reserves of 9.2-million ounces, as well as 17.4-million ounces of gold in resources.

Preliminary details will comprise Vector undertaking exploration and development and meeting 100% of the costs of advancing the projects to definitive feasibility study stage.

The company has had its technical management team and consultants complete a number of site visits to Kibali South and Nizi to assess the historical exploration and resource drilling, and review all other technical and project related information available.

“While the projects are at different stages of exploration, they both offer major opportunities for the company to significantly expand its exploration and development activities in DRC’s gold sector with the addition of these multi-million ounce gold projects,” the company stated.