Venture Minerals (ASX:VMS) is selling its iron ore mine in Tasmania that has been on care and maintenance since 2021.
The sale of the Riley Iron Ore Mine, which is held by wholly owned subsidiary Venture Iron, to Goldvalley Brown Stone will net Venture Minerals $3 million in cash and return its $585,000 environmental bond.
The junior explorer engaged Argonaut PCF to review its options, which included a potential restart, joint venture or asset sale.
Following a competitive process, the company decided the best way forward was via a sale of subsidiary Venture Iron.
In May, Venture Minerals undertook a board refresh that saw Philippa Leggat step into the role of Managing Director following Andrew Radonjic’s resignation.
The company has decided to refocus on its rare earths projects, including the Jupiter discovery in Western Australia, where recent drilling returned the best intersection so far of 58m @ 2,723 parts per million total rare earth oxide.
Leggat says the capital injection from the sale will be used to advance Jupiter, which is a “high-grade”, clay-hosted rare earth project.
“This also frees our team to focus their efforts on advancing Jupiter while eliminating the financial burden of maintaining the Riley Project on care and maintenance,” she says.
Venture Minerals will appoint an advisor to handle the sale of its remaining Tasmanian assets, the Mt Lindsay and Mt Livingston projects.
Completion of the sale of the Riley Iron Ore Project will increase existing cash reserves of $1.6 million. The company has already received a $50,000 deposit.
Write to Angela East at Mining.com.au
Images: Venture Minerals
