Tempest Minerals (ASX:TEM) has entered a binding agreement to acquire Zealandia Resources, offering four gold projects in the North Island of New Zealand spanning 145km2.
The acquisition terms require Tempest to pay $2 million in shares, issued at the 10-day volume weighted average price.
Tempest will also pay $2 million in performance shares through four milestone payments over a five-year term from completion of the acquisition.
The company will pay $500,000 in performance shares for each milestone, including drilling an intersection of equal or greater than 10 gram-metres gold, an intersection of equal or greater than 20 gram-metres gold, returning a minimum inferred resource of 200,000 ounces gold @ 2 grams per tonne gold, and returning a minimum inferred resource of 500,000 ounces gold @ 4g/t gold.
To finalise this acquisition, Tempest will conduct due diligence across the assets and execute transaction documentation before progressing regulatory requirements and beginning fieldwork in New Zealand.
Located within the Taupo Volcanic Zone and Hauraki Goldfields, the four projects acquired through this transaction with Zealandia include the Hossack, Matahana, Ohakuri, and Puriri projects.
The Taupo Volcanic Zone is home to several epithermal gold systems, considered prospective for gold exploration, while the Hauraki Goldfields has a history of ‘high-grade’ epithermal gold-silver mining, with production exceeding 15 million ounces of gold.
Tempest Managing Director Don Smith says the acquisition positions the company to “leverage the strategic value of the prospects” in both Australia and New Zealand.
“We are certainly excited by the opportunity to acquire drill-ready targets in a proven gold-bearing region,” Smith says.
“The high-profile geological consulting team have just completed a round of fieldwork and are seeing geological analogies to other large gold deposits in the region.”
Zealandia Executive Director Shaun Ramsden says the acquisition “represents a strong validation of the quality” of the company’s New Zealand gold portfolio.
“We think the combination of our respective skill sets is ideal to accelerate exploration and unlock the full potential of the projects,” Ramsden says.
Tempest Minerals is a mineral explorer focused on advancing a diversified portfolio of projects in Australia.
Write to Maddison Elliott at Mining.com.au
Images: Tempest Minerals
