Companies:

 

Articles:

 
Mining

Marmota divests West Melton copper tenement for $1m share consideration in G4 Metals

Go to Imelda Cotton author's page
By Imelda Cotton - 
Marmota ASX MEU sale Melton copper G4 Metals
Copied

Up-and-coming explorer Marmota (ASX: MEU) has agreed to divest its West Melton EL 6701 copper-gold tenement in South Australia to resource company G4 Metals for a consideration of $1 million.

The deal will see Marmota dispose of the tenement in return for full payment in G4 shares and performance scrip payments of up to $500,000 on the achievement of resources containing more than 100,000 tonnes of copper at West Melton or at G4’s Yorke Peninsula tenements.

G4 has already paid Marmota a cash deposit of $5,000 towards the costs of tenement fees and administration.

Copper exposure

Marmota expects the West Melton divestment to give it continued exposure to copper while allowing it to focus on the flagship Muckanippie titanium and Aurora Tank gold discoveries.

The company reported recoveries of up to 93% gold from metallurgical testing at Aurora Tank in April, as well as silver values averaging less than 0.5 grams per tonne and low values of contained copper, mercury and sulphur.

Exploration at the project has previously returned multiple bonanza grades, predominantly close to surface with soft ground and outstanding metallurgy amenable to low-cost, low-capex heap leach recovery.

Muckanippie has also returned “outstanding” high-value titanium feedstocks including valuable heavy mineral content grades as high as 90%, with an average of 79%.

Mutually beneficial deal

Marmota chair Dr Colin Rose said the company had secured a mutually beneficial deal with G4.

“This deal has been structured in such a way that our shareholders will continue to be exposed to the upside through our substantial stake in G4,” he said.

“We look forward to working with G4 to finalise the sale and to future success in developing this prime copper-gold tenement in an area with a proud history of copper mining.”

Initial public offering

West Melton adjoins the Hillside copper-gold project discovered by Rex Minerals prior to its $393m acquisition by major Indonesian conglomerate, The Salim Group.

G4 plans to start exploration at West Melton later this year, ahead of an initial public offering in 2026.

Under a binding heads of agreement, Marmota will grant G4 an exclusive right to acquire the legal and beneficial interest in the tenement as it progresses to IPO.

In the event the IPO does not go ahead, Marmota has the option to withdraw from the heads of agreement.