Everest Metals Corp has signed a binding joint venture agreement covering all of its large projects in western New South Wales. ASX-listed Stelar Metals has agreed to a deal which will give it a 90 per cent interest in Everest’s Trident, Midas and Perseus projects at Broken Hill covering over 750 square km of tenements. Everest Metals will receive $250,000 cash and a similar value in Stelar shares upfront. Milestone payments related to drilling commencement look likely to add a further $500,000 in cash or shares to the kitty. The company also retains a 10 per cent free-carried interest until the delivery of a feasibility study and decision to mine.
Everest now has the option to convert to a 1.5 per cent smelter royalty or retain its 10 per cent share and fund mine development.
The option deal is subject to a 15-day due diligence period, approval of the Stelar board of directors and any ASX or regulatory approval requirements. Stelar will take over management of the joint venture and subsequent exploration.
Stelar has a strong focus on exploration for iron-oxide-copper-gold, or IOCG and Zambian style copper-gold deposits in South Australia. The IOCG prospectivity of the Everest ground has drawn them over border into the nearby Broken Hill region of NSW.
Everest has identified what it believes are compelling drill-ready IOCG targets at Benco in its Midas project ground 40km northeast of Broken Hill. At Trident Everest claims to have six high-priority IOCG targets identified via rock chip sampling. The company has also identified what it calls strong copper, gold and tin mineralisation at the project some 35km northeast of Broken Hill.
Whilst at Midas, soil and rock chip sampling have delineated several IOCG targets.
Everest has also identified six IOCG targets at Perseus and the Geological Survey of NSW’s November 2018 Mineral Potential Report for the Curnamona ranked three of them as being “highly prospective” adding further interest to the project.
The Perseus project is 50km west of Broken Hill and north of the Broken Hill Cobalt project where the plan is to produce 3600 tonnes per annum of cobalt from a resource of 123 million tonnes grading 660 parts per million cobalt and 7.3 per cent sulphur.
Everest Metals’ Chief Executive Officer, Mark Caruso said: “The Joint Venture of the NSW assets is consistent with EMC’s strategic focus on its near-term West Australian Gold and Battery Metal Projects.”
Everest Metals Corporation was formerly known as Twenty Seven Co and the name change was effected in November 2022. At the same time the company undertook a 50 to 1 consolidation of its ASX listed shares with the number of shares on issue now being a modest 106 million. After its change of name and focus the company is wasting no time in seeking to extract value from its ground at Broken Hill NSW whilst concentrating on exploration for lithium and gold in WA. Rio Tinto is currently funding exploration for lithium at their North Rover farm-in.
Everest has an interesting year in front of it with exploration across large areas of prime real estate in gold and lithium hot spots.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Matt Birney
