US-based major Newmont Mining has agreed to partner with Miranda Gold to explore the TSX-V-listed company’s Lyra project, in Colombia.
In terms of the option agreement, announced by Miranda on Wednesday, Newmont would fund a $600 000 prospecting programme over an 18-month period, while concession applications are converted to contracts.
The major could then elect to earn into Lyra by spending $3-million over a four-year project for an initial 51% interest in the project. Newmont could increase that to 70% by spending another $7-million over a further four years.
Miranda CEO Joseph Hebert said that Newmont’s propriety technologies should benefit the Lyra project, which the company believed covered an extension of the Buritica district.
The concession contract applications total 54 895 ha, covering more than 25 km of the Tonusco fault.