PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Junior Anova Metals has struck a deal with fellow listed Red Dirt Metals to acquire the Warriedar gold project, in Western Australia.

Anova will acquire the project for an up-front acquisition price of A$1.2-million, which will be satisfied through the issue of 100-million of its own shares, at a deemed price of 1.2c a share.

Anova will assume Warriedar’s obligations to pay a milestone payment of A$100 000 to Northwest Minerals in the event of defining a Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant resource estimate of more than 150 000 oz gold equivalent prior to July 2025.

“Aligned with our recently enunciated portfolio strategy, we have contracted to acquire the highly prospective Warriedar gold project in Western Australia. Warriedar sits in one of the best-known Archean greenstone belts in Western Australia. High grade historic gold mineralisation has been confirmed in recent drilling success,” said Anova MD Dr Amanda Buckingham.

“Structures that control the high-grade Reids Ridge trend at Warriedar extend more than 3 km along strike, and exhibit anomalism in surface geochemistry and geophysical responses. However, only a small portion of the belt has been tested by drilling programs. Fauna and flora surveys have already been completed, which allows Anova to hit the ground running. Upon completion of this acquisition, Anova will own 100% of two gold assets with expansive exploration potential located in two leading mining jurisdictions globally. The company is well-funded to commence exploration at Warriedar quickly and intensively.”

Red Dirt told shareholders that the company is divesting the Warriedar gold project to concentrate expenditure and resources on advancing the Mt Ida lithium project. With 47 tenements now under management and significant near-term opportunities in the lithium space, the company intends to prioritise capital expenditure and resources on the company’s core assets that can maximise shareholder returns.

“Red Dirt is divesting the Warriedar project to focus expenditure and utilisation of resources on the rapid advancement of the Mt Ida lithium project,” said MD Matthew Boyes.

“Red Dirt believes Anova has a strong team in place and will be able to dedicate the resources and capital to the project needed, on what we consider to be a prospective yet underexplored tenement package.”