Antipa Minerals (ASX:AZY) is selling its 32% interest in the Citadel Joint Venture Project to its JV partner Rio Tinto Exploration for $17 million.
In 2015, Antipa and Rio Tinto’s (ASX:RIO) subsidiary Rio Tinto Exploration established the Citadel JV, which covers 1,200km2 of tenure in the Paterson Province of Western Australia.
Citadel hosts a resource estimate totalling 127 million tonnes containing 2.84 million ounces of gold at 0.17 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, 173,000 tonnes of copper at 0.13% and 2.1 million ounces of silver at 2.1g/t.
Under the sale agreement, there are no regulatory approvals required, which means, subject to satisfying the conditions, the transaction is expected to be completed by November 2024.
Antipa, which has a market capitalisation of $66.76 million, says proceeds from the transaction will bolster its cash reserves to $23 million. As a result, the company will be able to further explore and advance its Minyari Dome Gold-Copper Project.
Managing Director Roger Mason says the sale of the minority, non-controlling interest in the Citadel Project liberates cash, providing a solid financial foundation to accelerate the development of Minyari Dome.
“Rio Tinto was the natural buyer for Citadel, and the $17 million all-cash consideration fully reflects the current value of our interest in the asset, positioning us to focus on unlocking the full potential at Minyari Dome,” Mason says.
“Our team is busy finalising an update to the existing Minyari deposit mineral resource, including simultaneously preparing a maiden mineral resource for GEO-01.
“Together, these deposits will form a basis for a revised Minyari Dome Scoping Study. We look forward to sharing the outcomes from these project advancement milestones in the coming weeks.”
Antipa expects to deliver the GEO-01 maiden resource estimate and update Minyari Dome’s resource estimate in the first half of this month.
Once completed, Antipa will conduct the Scoping Study in the second half of September 2024.
In the final stages of development, the company intends to conduct reverse circulation and diamond core drilling, primarily focused on mineral resource expansion.
Drilling is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of this year.
Antipa Minerals is a mineral explorer focused on discovering gold-copper deposits in the highly prospective Paterson Province of Western Australia.
The company’s tenement granted holding covers 5,100km2 and hosts attributable mineral resources of 2.8 million ounces of gold, 120,000 tonnes of copper, and 1.3 million ounces of silver.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Antipa Minerals
