PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Gold major Newcrest Mining has inked a heads of agreement (HoA) with junior Taruga Gold over the Dabakala project, in Côte d’Ivoire.
The nonbinding HoA outlined the terms of a farm-in and joint venture (JV) agreement under which Newcrest could earn a 75% interest in a JV company by spending $1.7-million over a three-year period.
The Australian gold miner would have to spend a minimum of $75 000 before being able to withdraw from the JV, with Taruga maintaining full ownership of the project until the full investment was incurred.
Taruga MD Bernard Aylward said the agreement with Newcrest highlighted the company’s success in identifying and securing prospective ground, undertaking early-stage exploration and identifying an established gold producer to farm-in and assist with required exploration expenditure.
“If the Newcrest transaction proceeds, Taruga will have secured two significant JV agreements this year with highly respected companies and our projects will see significant exploration activity and repaid advancement from the current early stage exploration.”