PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed junior PepinNini Minerals has taken a A$150 000 option over the Manchego project, in Western Australia, owned by fellow-listed Phosphate Australia.
Under the terms of the option, PepinNini subsidiary NiCul Minerals would take a two-year option to acquire an 80% shareholding in Manchego for A$500 000. The project comprises one exploration licence and one exploration application over 786 km2, and was considered prospective for nickel, copper and platinum-group metals.
Over the two-year option period, NiCul would spend A$200 000 a year to assess the project’s potential, and should the junior elect to complete the option purchase, it would establish a joint venture with owner Phosphate Australia, to develop the project.
PepinNini said on Monday that the Manchego transaction expanded the company’s exploration footprint in the Musgrave region, which was considered one of the last untapped mineral provinces in Australia. The company currently holds exploration licences over ten tenements, covering 9 600 km2, in the adjacent Central Musgrave region, in South Australia, where drill sampling has revealed evidence of sulphides.