ASX-listed resource company Everest Metals (ASX:EMC) has executed an exclusive binding Heads of Agreement (HOA) joint venture (JV) agreement with Stelar Metals (ASX:SLB) for the Trident, Midas, and Perseus projects near Broken Hill in New South Wales.
Covering a combined 753km-square, Everest says it has one of the largest licence holdings in the Broken Hill area. Everest reports it has identified ‘compelling’ iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG) targets that are drill ready at the Benco prospect, located within the Midas Copper-Gold Project.
For the Trident IOCG Project, the company reported assay results from its first pass rock chip sampling program in 2021, and has identified a further 6 ‘high-priority’ IOCG targets for testing.
“The transaction with Stelar further enhances EMC’s excellent exposure to lithium”
Under the JV agreement, Stelar will pay $250,000 cash, and will issue $250,000 worth of fully paid shares divided by the volume weighted average price (VWAP) of the shares as traded on the ASX over the 10 days immediately before the date of the agreement to Everest.
An additional milestone payment will be paid to Everest once either drilling begins at the Midas Project, or drilling approvals are granted by the New South Wales regulators for drilling at the Trident Project.
This milestone payment will comprise either Stelar issuing fully paid shares to the value of $500,000 at the same issue price of determined at the date of the agreement, or a cash payment of $500,000.
Under the agreement Stelar will become the managers of the projects, and 90% legal title will be transferred to Stelar’s subsidiary BR2. Everest will retain free-carry for its 10% interest until Stelar presents a Feasibility Study and a Decision to Mine.
After the free-carry period, Everest will either contribute 10% to all ongoing costs, or dilute to a 1.5% Net Smelter Royalty.
Conditions precedent for this agreement include BR2 completing legal and technical due diligence within 15 business days, BR2 obtaining board approval within 5 days of the execution date, and BR2 obtaining all necessary regulatory, shareholder, and third-party approvals.
Commenting on the JV agreement, Everest Metals Chief Executive Officer Mark Caruso said: “The joint venture of the NSW assets is consistent with EMC’s (Everest) strategic focus on its near-term West Australian Gold and Battery Metal Projects.
The transaction with Stelar further enhances EMC’s excellent exposure to lithium through the RTX JV at Rover and the recent Mt Edon Acquisition.”
The Midas Copper-Gold Project is prospective for IOCG gold and is located 40km northeast of Broken Hill, and adjacent to Silver City Minerals’ (ASX:SCI) Yalcowinna Tenement. Everest reports several areas of strong copper-gold anomalism have already been defined across the Midas Project through soil and rock chip sampling projects.
The Perseus Project is prospective for IOCG mineralisation, and is located about 50km west of Broken Hill and north of the Thackaringa Cobalt Project. In 2018, Everest identified 6 ‘high-priority’ IOCG targets for testing, and the Geological Survey of New South Wales’ November 2018 Mineral Potential Report for the Curnamona ranked 3 of the 6 ‘high-priority’ Perseus targets as ‘highly prospective’.
Everest reports the Trident Project is located about 35km northeast of Broken Hill within the Curnamona Craton, and is prospective for IOCG and tin.
The company says it is hosted in an ovoid shaped craton of Paleoproterozoic to Mesoproterozoic rocks of the Willyama Supergroup which hosts the Broken Hill stratabound lead-zinc-silver deposit, and numerous small metalliferous occurrences. In 2021 Everest also identified ‘strong’ copper, gold, and tin mineralisation at Trident.
Everest Metals is an ASX-listed resource company focused on a portfolio of gold and battery mineral assets in Western Australia. These projects include the Mt Edon Project, the Revere Project, the Mt Dimer Project, the Yarbu Project, and the Rover Project.