PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Japan’s Sumisho Coal Australia has abandoned a A$109-million joint venture with diversified miner Aquila Resources to develop Aquila’s Queensland coal tenements.
In April last year, Aquila and Sumisho entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to form a joint venture to explore Aquilas’ portfolio of coal tenements in Queensland, excluding the Washpool hard coking coal project.
Under the terms of the MoU, Sumisho would have acquired between 20% and 50% interest in the tenement areas, based on a valuation determined by an independent expert.
However, Aquila reported on Monday that two independent valuations had averaged a price of around A$108.8-million, on a 100% basis for the tenements, prompting Sumisho to elect not to acquire an interest in the project.