Tanzanian gold miner Acacia Mining in September announced the formation of an earn-in joint venture (JV) with precious and base metals explorer OreCorp to progress the Nyanzaga project, in Tanzania.

OreCorp will act as manager of the project and will be able to earn up to a 25% ownership in Nyanzaga through the completion of various work programme milestones over a three-year period for an aggregate project investment of $15-million, including an upfront payment to Acacia of $1-million.

Acacia says that it is pleased to have reached an agreement with OreCorp for the company to earn-in to and progress the Nyanzaga project.

The structure of the JV allows Acacia to retain its focus on delivery from its existing mines, while retaining the optionality to participate in the potential future development of a large-scale gold mine.

“We believe that the team at OreCorp, having previously run large-scale projects in Tanzania, are well placed to advance the project to a development decision and look forward to working with them to further develop the Tanzanian mining industry,” says Acacia CEO Brad Gordon.

Nyanzaga is located in north-west Tanzania, in the Lake Victoria Goldfields region, which is also host to all three of Acacia’s producing mines.

Since increasing its ownership of the project to 100% in May 2010, Acacia has undertaken an extensive step-out and infill drilling programme with a total of 120 088 m being drilled.

This programme has extended the known gold mineralisation and as a result the project is now host to an indicated and inferred in-pit resource of 4.2-million ounces at a grade of 1.3 g/t.

As a result of Acacia’s focus on ensuring each of its producing assets is performing to its geological potential and delivering returns for Acacia’s shareholders, limited activity has taken place at Nyanzaga since 2013.

The formation of the earn-in JV with OreCorp allows the project to be reassessed and then progressed through to the completion of a definitive feasibility study by a dedicated team who have experience in delivering value from large-scale projects in Tanzania and Africa, while allowing Acacia the optionality to maintain a 75% stake in the project once it gets to a development decision.