Critical minerals explorer Kingsrose Mining (ASX:KRM) is forming exploration alliances with BHP (ASX:BHP) over regional areas of interest that are prospective for nickel and copper in Norway and Finland.
The pair have signed two exploration alliance agreements under BHP’s Xplor initiative that will see the mining heavyweight fund regional exploration in the Nordic regions.
Xplor is a six-month accelerator program for early stage explorers to find the critical resources necessary to drive the energy transition.
BHP Vice President Exploration Sonia Scarcelli says the miner developed the Xplor program to address the challenge of declining global discovery rates.
The exploration alliances will be undertaken in three stages.
BHP has agreed to initially sole fund up to US$20 million ($30 million) in regional generative exploration over up to four years in the hope of identifying compelling targets to become defined projects.
Once it has done that, the company can earn up to a 75% stake in each project in two stages by sole funding a further US$36 million over seven years from the start of the earn-in phase.
If BHP then decides to exercise the option to create a joint venture, each company will contribute according to their share in the JV. If either party’s interest falls below 10%, it will convert to a 2% net smelter royalty.
Kingsrose Managing Director Fabian Baker says the alliances will result in significant exploration expenditure across the Norway and Finland mineral belts, with the objective of discovering tier-one deposits.
Kingsrose has identified several early stage nickel-copper exploration targets and secured more than 3,800km2 square kilometres of exploration licences or reservations across the two belts.
“The exploration tenements held by Kingsrose in Norway and Finland represent a rare exploration opportunity with respect to their scale and prospectivity for discovery,” Baker says.
The agreements exclude Kingsrose’s Penikat and Råna projects, which the company plans to continue advancing independently.
Kingsrose shares advanced nearly 28% today (22 May) to an intra-day high of $0.06 following the announcement.
Write to Angela East at Mining.com.au
Images: Kingsrose Mining
