PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX- and TSX-V listed Macarthur Minerals on Friday announced plans to spin-out Pilbara iron-ore assets into a separately listed vehicle Infinity Mining.

Infinity, which was previously a wholly owned subsidiary of Macarthur known as Macarthur Australia, holds the company’s Pilbara gold/copper/lithium tenements, along with exclusive rights to undertake due diligence on ten historic tenements in the Leonora area in Western Australia, held by Zanil.

Infinity and Zanil are in advanced discussions around the terms of a sale and purchase agreement. Subject to the completion of a due diligence on these assets, they will be vended into Infinity following the company’s listing on the ASX.

Macarthur told shareholders on Friday that the spin-out would fast track further exploration and the future potential development of the Pilbara assets, and would allow the company to focus solely on the development of its flagship iron-ore projects at Lake Giles in the Yilgarn region of Western Australia.

“Macarthur’s board has carefully considered all available options and we believe the value of the Pilbara gold/copper/lithium assets is not reflected in the current share price of Macarthur and see this as a way to create additional value for shareholders via a priority initial public offering (IPO) spin-off to be listed on the ASX,” said Macarthur MD Joe Phillips.

“The addition of the Central Goldfields assets into the portfolio will provide the new company access to potential surface gold historically identified that may be toll treated through regional gold mines. The new vehicle will evaluate opportunities outside of the iron-ore space, and will ensure that Macarthur retains its primary focus on the Lake Giles iron project.”

Phillips said that the company would later provide details of the spin-out and the proposed IPO listing.