PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Explorer Emerald Resources would suspend share trading at the end of March as the company shifted its focus from US oil and gas exploration to gold exploration.
ASX-listed Emerald on Wednesday announced that it had signed a farm-in and joint venture (JV) agreement with fellow-listed Renaissance Minerals to earn a majority interest in a Cambodian gold project.
The proposed transaction would constitute a change in the nature and scale of activities for Emerald, and as a result, the company’s shares would be suspended pending shareholder approval of the transaction, and until Emerald complied with ASX listing rules.
Under the terms of the agreement with Renaissance, Emerald would sole fund a bankable feasibility study for the development of the Okvau gold project, to earn a 51% stake in the project.
The company would also be responsible for undertaking an environmental and social impact assessment, and a two-year exploration programme worth $3-million.
Renaissance in July last year completed a prefeasibility study for the development of a 1.5-million-tonne-a-year operation, which estimated that the project would require a capital investment of $120-million to produce about 91 500 oz/y over the mine life of eight years.
The project is currently estimated to host some 15.8-million tonnes of indicated and inferred resource, grading 2.2 g/t gold for 1.13-million ounces of gold.
The JV agreement remained subject to shareholder approval by both camps, as well as Renaissance and Emerald obtaining the necessary approvals and consent from the Cambodian government.