Minerals 260 (ASX:MI6) reports it has agreed to acquire the private company Capricorn Orogen and its 20 granted exploration licences for rare earths, nickel-copper, and lithium as part of the Ti Tree Project, located in the Gascoyne Province of Western Australia.
The agreement is between Minerals 260 and Capricorn’s parent company Augustus Copper (which will be renamed Augustus Minerals), which holds the legal and beneficial interest of 100% of the issued capital of Capricorn, which has a 100% interest in the tenements comprising the Ti Tree Project.
Total consideration for the Ti Tree Project will be $1.3 million in cash, and the issue of 54,965,000 Mineral 260 shares which represent 19.99% of the company’s issued capital following the issue of these shares.
A Binding Letter Agreement (BLA) has been executed and a $75,000 deposit will be paid within 2 days, and a further $225,000 will be paid upon the exception of a Definitive Sales Agreement within 15 business days of executing the BLA.
Completion of the acquisition is conditional on, amongst other things including the satisfactory completion of due diligence by Minerals 260, the receipt of shareholder approval for the issue of the Consideration Shares under ASX Listing Rule 7.1; and the execution of associated agreements and the receipt of necessary third party consents.
Another agreement term is the right to acquire 50% interest of private royalties on the Project tenement at any time by paying $1.25 million cash and a Right of First Refusal to acquire the remaining 50% of the royalties.
Capricorn will also have the right to appoint a director to the Minerals 260 Board, subject to completion.
Capricorn has not nominated the proposed director yet, and in the event a Director is nominated, 50% of the consideration shares will be subject to voluntary escrow for 12 months.
Minerals 260 Managing Director David Richards said the acquisition of such a large, contiguous area in an emerging, highly prospective region is an exciting opportunity for Minerals 260 and its shareholders.
“The deal is consistent with the company’s philosophy of targeting under-explored areas, previously considered less fashionable, with the potential to discover truly world class mineral deposits.
“The deal is consistent with the company’s philosophy of targeting under-explored areas, previously considered less fashionable, with the potential to discover truly world class mineral deposits”
“In this regard, Ti Tree is a complementary addition to our flagship Moora Project, representing a high-quality geological opportunity in an under explored region with the potential for large-scale discoveries in a basket of commodities that fits extremely well with our strategic focus.
“We look forward to rapidly advancing the Project and building on the extensive knowledge gained from several years of quality exploration work and getting the drill rigs going as soon as possible.”
The Ti Tree Project has been explored historically for precious and base metals.
Work on the project since 2018 has defined multiple rare earth elements (REEs), lithium, base metal and gold targets which will be the focus of Minerals 260 initial exploration, and immediate targets include:
- REE anomalies defined by detailed geochemical and geophysical surveys.
- Crawford Bore rare earth pegmatite field, which includes the historic beryl and tin workings that indicate good prospectivity for lithium.
- Interpreted southern strike extension of the Ni-Cu prospective Money Intrusion being explored by First Quantum Minerals and Dreadnought (ASX:DRE).
More recently, exploration by Capricorn and neighbouring tenement holders has highlighted the region’s prospectivity for REE and lithium.
Exploration undertaken by Capricorn on the Project includes:
- Compilation and validation of historic exploration data.
- Re-processing and interpretation of publicly available geophysical datasets.
- Acquisition of high-resolution aeromagnetic, radiometric and gravity datasets.
- The collection of over 15,000 ultrafine fraction soil samples.
- Reconnaissance campaigns including rock chip sampling.
- Prospectivity and targeting studies.
This work has defined multiple targets which will be the focus of Minerals 260’s initial exploration work.
In addition, the company will undertake a review of the prospectivity for REE and lithium, the potential of which has only recently been recognised in the area.
Importantly, government permitting is in place to enable drilling to commence over key areas once targets have been validated and heritage clearances secured.
The Ti Tree Project is located in the Gascoyne Province of Western Australia, 200km northeast of Carnarvon and covers an area of approximately 3,900km-square.
The Project adjoins the southern boundary of the Mangaroon Project owned by Dreadnought, where recent exploration has discovered significant REE and copper-nickel mineralisation.
The Yangibana REE project, owned by Hastings Technology Metals (ASX:HAS) where mine construction is in progress, is located approximately 30km north of Ti Tree. The Yinnethara Lithium Project, recently acquired by Red Dirt Metals, is located immediately to the south.
The Ti Tree project is underlain by lithologies of the same type and age as those that host the surrounding mineral occurrences.
Minerals 260’s ‘strong’ cash position ensures exploration momentum can be maintained at both the Ti Tree Project and the company’s other key asset, the Moora and Koojan Project in the Julimar Region, where a 10,000 to 15,000 reverse circulation drilling program is planned for the coming summer period.
Minerals 260 is a Perth-based company created to contain Liontown’s non-lithium assets which include the Moora and Koojan Projects located in the emerging Julimar Au-PGE-Ni-Cu Province of southwest Western Australia.
The company’s objective is to discover and develop highly profitable, stand alone precious and base metal projects, and it will do this by employing the best people and applying systematic, scientific exploration techniques to its tenement portfolio.
