Evolution joins Emmerson at Tennant Creek

Perth company Emmerson Resources has entered into a joint venture agreement with Evolution Mining for the exploration of gold and copper deposits at the Tennant Creek mineral field.

Evolution will work with Emmerson to advance the expansion of the existing JORC resources identified by Emmerson at Tennant Creek and will drill test a number of high quality gold-copper targets aimed a rapid resumption of mineral production.

Under the agreement, Evolution will fund $15 million of exploration over three years for a 65 per cent interest in Tennant Creek.

Evolution can also earn an additional 10 per cent interest by spending $10 million over two years.

The company will take up 13 per cent ownership through the subscription of about 49 million shares at a cost of $1.87 million.

In return, Evolution will issue about 2.5 million new shares to Emmerson, equivalent to $2 million.

“This agreement effectively secures the future for Emmerson by providing the funding to underpin a very significant exploration effort – to build on the existing JORC resources and to test a range of new generation gold-copper targets, which, if successful, will be fast-tracked through to development,” Emmerson’s managing director Rob Bills said.

Tennant Creek has produced over 5.5 million ounces of gold and 470,000 tonnes of copper over the mineral field's lifetime. 

Emmerson’s share price rose by 13.9 per cent to 4.1 cents at 3:00pm WST.