Nickel miner Mincor says it is entering a new era of acquisitions and opportunities outside its home base of Kambalda after entering a $30 million joint venture covering a group of highly prospective gold and copper tenements in Papua New Guinea.
The joint venture, with PNG-based minerals explorer Niuminco, covers a range of assets, including the advanced stage Edie Creek Gold project, the May River gold exploration licence and two early-stage prospects with untested potential.
Under the joint venture Mincor will fund exploration expenditure up to $15 million to earn up to a 51 per cent interest in Edie Creek, and up to $15 million to earn up to a 72 per cent interest in the other exploration licences.
Mincor also agreed to subscribe up to $5 million to a capital raising to be undertaken shortly by DSF International, an ASX-listed company in the process of acquiring Nuiminco.
Nuiminco/DSF intends to raise a minimum of $12 million through the issue of 60 million shares at 20 cents each, up to a maximum of $15 million.
Mincor said the joint venture opened up a new chapter in its development. It is the company's most significant acquisition since the 2007 purchase of the Otter Juan nickel mine in Kambalda.
Mincor is also in the process of developing the Tottenham copper-gold project in New South Wales.
It said it was fully funded for its growth ambitions with $100 million in cash, no debt, and strong on-going cashflows from its Kambalda nickel operations.
"We are delighted to partner with Niuminco to pursue the exploration and development of these mineral projects," Mincor managing director David Moore said.
"I see in these assets the same kind of potential that we uncovered at Reko Diq through our Tethyan Copper Company, whose incubation within Mincor and subsequent spin-off generated substantial returns for our shareholders."
"Through this venture I believe we now have some of the best prospects in PNG, and this is elephant country for world-class deposits. Mincor has the skills, experience and funding to bring them to account."
At 9:20AM (WST) Mincor's stock had dipped 2.3 per cent to trade at $1.02.