Photo by: Bloomberg
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Graphite developer Walkabout Resources on Tuesday announced its plans to diversify its exploration portfolio, with the acquisition of platinum miner Lonmin’s Northern Ireland exploration portfolio.
Under the terms of the transaction, Walkabout acquired Lonmin’s Northern Ireland exploration portfolio and assets for $100 000, which was paid in two installments.
The exploration portfolio included gold, lithium and base metals tenements, as well as a 50% interest in an active gold joint venture with UK-based Koza in the Dalradian gold belt.
On the start of commercial production from Lonmin’s former licences, Walkabout would also be liable for a 2% net smelter return on minerals and metals extracted from these assets.
“The opportunity to acquire such an extensive high-quality exploration portfolio from a major such as Lonmin is indicative of our team’s significant international expertise to assess the geological potential and move quickly to capitalise on these rare opportunities,” said Walkabout executive chairperson Trevor Benson.
“The acquisition further provides a platform for growth and diversification both geographically and in terms of commodities,” Benson added.
Walkabout on Wednesday told shareholders that the low-cost acquisition gave the company an “excellent base” from which to expand shareholder value through exploration, as its Lindi Jumbo graphite project, in Tanzania, was now essentially classified as a development project.
Benson said that the company’s continued exploration strategy was to discover new, or extend known deposits in short timeframes. Where these demonstrate reduced prospectivity within the forecast value horizon, they would be exited early, and the company would move on to assess other opportunities.
While Walkabout has previously focused on the new-energy metals, such as lithium and graphite, the company told shareholders that all potentially economic commodities would be assessed within the Northern Ireland exploration portfolio.