Photo by: Bloomberg
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Dual-listed gold miner AngloGold Ashanti could spend as much as A$25-million to gain a 70% interest in gold exploration tenements located west of its Sunrise Dam gold mine, in Western Australia.
The Butcher Well and Lake Carey tenements form part of smaller rival Saracen Mineral Holdings’ Carosue Dam North project area and cover 339.5 km2.
Saracen MD Raleigh Finlayson said on Monday that the agreement with Anglogold Ashanti reflected the quality of the Carosue Dam North tenements, and supported the company’s belief in the potential of this district.
Under the terms of the agreement, AngloGold Ashanti would earn an initial 51% interest in the project area by spending no less than A$15-million, of which at least A$6-million had to be spent on the Lake Carey tenements, within the next four years.
The gold miner could earn an additional 19% interest in the project by spending a further A$10-million within 24 months of the first farm-in period expiring.
“This package, when combined with our own package of tenements on and around Lake Carey, gives us an opportunity to build on and integrate our extensive knowledge of the geology of the district to be uniquely positioned to make the next big discovery in the area,” AngloGold Ashanti senior VP greenfield exploration Rex Brommecker said in a statement.
AngloGold Ashanti can withdraw from the project and the agreement at any time during the farm-in period, and before satisfying the first earn-in requirement.