PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Altona Mining has abandoned its joint venture (JV) agreement with Sichuan Railway Investment Group (SRIG) over the Cloncurry project, in north-west Queensland, after the Chinese group failed to secure regulatory approval for the transaction.
Altona had already granted SRIG an extension to July 21 to obtain the necessary Chinese regulatory approvals to execute a subscription deed, and said on Monday that it would not give a further extension. Instead, the company would look for alternative transactions with a third party.
SRIG was set to contribute $213.5-million to the JV and would have owned 66% of the project. Altona would have contributed $25-million and would have owned a 34% share.
The JV partners had intended to develop a seven-million-tonne-a-year openpit mine and flotation plant capable of producing 39 000 t/y copper and 17 000 oz/y of gold over an initial mine life of 11 years.