Australian exploration company Meteoric Resources has closed the sale of the Juruena Gold Project in Brazil to Keystone Resources for $20m.
The two parties signed the deal in June 2022. Subsequently, Keystone made the first tranche of $2.5m in October 2022.
However, transaction was terminated following issues related to the sale in April 2023.
Meteoric said that the two companies had later collaborated privately and reached an agreement on the original terms.
The Australian company has received $17.5m from Keystone, as part of the deal.
Meteoric plans to use the proceeds from the sale to advance its Caldeira rare earth element (REE) project in the Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Meteoric Resources executive chairman Andrew Tunks said: “The non-dilutive A$27m+ injection of funds will allow us to continue our rapid advance towards development, including a robust drilling programme targeting HREE focused exploration, Mineral Resource conversion, the Caldeira Scoping Study, and commencement of a pilot plant to generate sufficient quantities of REE Carbonate to send out to potential off-take partners for testing.
“The Juruena Gold Project acquisition by Keystone represents a vital step in their continued growth strategy, strengthening its position to become one of the newest gold producers in Brazil.”
As per the initial agreement, Meteoric will receive a 2% gross royalty on all minerals produced from the project, which is capped at $2m.
As per estimates, the Juruena mine contains a JORC resource of 1.9MT for 387koz of gold at 6.3 g/t, comprising three separate but adjacent gold deposits.
Comprising 51 licences, the Meteoric’s Caldeira Project has undergone exploration work including 1,311 shallow auger drill holes for 13,037m.
Drilling across six licences resulted in ultra-high-grade Total Rare Earth Oxide (TREO) intersections.
Source: Mining technology
