JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – West African gold producer Aureus Mining has inked a deal that will see it acquiring three exploration licences contiguous to the company's Bea Mountain mining licence and located close to the New Liberty gold mine, in Liberia, from counterpart Sarama Resources.

Following the completion of the acquisition, Aureus would have 100% ownership of the licences and Sarama’s total land portfolio, increasing its own landholding from 1 402 km2 to 1 683 km2.

The acquired gold corridor would be the focus of follow-up exploration programmes once the company had achieved a cash flow positive position, with the objective of defining new gold deposits, it said in a statement.

Earlier exploration work undertaken by Sarama defined a 15-km-long gold corridor highlighted by gold-in-soil anomalies and extensive artisanal mining, which were within a 15 km radius of the New Liberty gold mine.

Sarama had also completed airborne geophysics, ground geochemistry and reconnaissance drilling on the licences, spending $1.8-million and intersecting gold mineralisation of 3.9 g/t over 7.5 m from 9.3 m and 2.3 g/t over 5 m from 28 m.

As part of the deal, Aureus would buy Sarama Investments Liberia, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sarama Resources, for a total consideration of 2.6-million common shares. 

Sarama would retain an uncapped 1% net smelter return royalty on gold produced from the Cape Mount permit. 

“The acquisition of Sarama's licences corresponds with Aureus's strategy of building a long-term and sustainable gold district in Liberia.  This consolidates our ownership of quality ground, adding further exploration potential and allowing New Liberty to become the hub to accelerate our regional development. 

“We look forward to continuing the exploration programme, which has, to date, produced some promising results,” commented Aureus CEO and president David Reading.

The acquisition remained subject to a number of conditions precedent, including receipt of all required governmental and regulatory approvals.