Blina Minerals’ extensive search for a new flagship project has ended with a tantalising Cobalt play in a Chilean district with the encouraging name of “La Cobaltera”.
The junior explorer told the ASX this week it had secured an agreement to acquire a 100% interest over 29 square kms of the historic, high-grade Cobalt producing district of La Cobaltera, just 75kms west of Vallenar, the capital of the Atacama region.
The promising project lies immediately north and on the inferred strike extent of the known high-grade Cobalt bearing veins of the old La Cobaltera workings. It incorporates the Cobaltera West Copper/Cobalt processing plant, together with significant tailings dumps.
Historical records dating back to 1899 show more than 300 tonnes of high grade Cobalt ore was mined, primarily from three veins in the region. Historical literature on the workings is limited.
No significant modern exploration or drilling has taken place in the region, which has historically been well endowed with Copper and Cobalt.
The widths of the main veins have been observed as being between 0.5 metres and 20 metres and the Copper and Cobalt mineralisation is structurally controlled by a regional fault more than 70kms long.
Blina have already begun a preliminary exploration program as part of their due diligence in a four-month option period. The program includes reconnaissance mapping, detailed structural mapping and rock chip sampling of veins in known historic Cobalt areas.
Consideration for the deal is the staged issue of Blina shares and options based upon certain milestones. The agreement includes the issue of 100m shares for due diligence exclusivity over the four-month option period, with a further 250m shares and 250m options issued to the vendors if Blina choose to exercise their option.
The options will have a strike price of half a cent each and an expiry date of three years from the date they are granted.
A further payment of 500,000,000 Blina shares is contingent upon the delineation of an inferred mineral resource of at least 3.5Mt grading 0.33% Cobalt equivalent within the tenements or surrounding region in five years.
The vendors will receive another 200,000,000 Blina shares if the newly acquired company secures additional tenements within a 100 square km radius of the project within 12 months of the acquisition.
Blina will fund its new exploration activity through a $700,000 placement of shares at 0.1 cents each, together with free attaching options on a one-for-two basis.
The new project could be a perfect restart in a hot sector for Blina , who was sidelined in 2016 by political unrest and terrorist attacks in Burkina Faso, leading to the suspension of work on their Diakouli Gold project.
By Matt Birney
