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- Aura Energy (AEE) has signed a C$4.5 million (roughly A$4.7 million) funding term sheet with TSX-listed Chilean Metals to create a joint venture
- The joint venture will include Aura’s Tasiast South tenements, which lie within two under-explored mineralised greenstone belts in Mauritania
- The tenements lie along strike from Kinross Gold’s 20-million-ounce Tasiast Gold Mine
- Aura will offer 100 per cent of its tenements and, in exchange, Chilean will make four scheduled payments totalling A$4.7 million to gain a 50 per cent interest in the joint venture
- The first payment of A$1.58 million is due by August 31
- The companies will now finalise a definitive agreement for the transaction
- Company shares last traded for 0.4 cents on May 18
Aura Energy (AEE) has signed a C$4.5 million (roughly A$4.7 million) funding term sheet with TSX-listed Chilean Metals to create a joint venture.
The joint venture will include Aura’s gold, base and battery metal tenements in Mauritania.
Significantly, Aura’s Tasiast South tenements cover 435 square kilometres and are in a highly prospective area. The Tasiast South tenements lie within two under-explored mineralised greenstone belts in Mauritania.
The areas are along strike from Kinross Gold’s 20-million-ounce Tasiast Gold Mine where Kinross recently announced it will expand gold production to 530,000 ounces per year.
“In the Tasiast district, there is currently only one discovery, reflecting how little explored this belt is. Clearly the potential for additional and substantial discoveries in the Tasiast district is very high,” Aura Principal Geologist Neil Clifford said.
“Aura is very pleased that Chilean Metals has recognised the attributes of this geological belt and welcomes Chilean into this project. Chilean’s understanding of what it takes to enable mineral discovery and their connection to important gold investment sources will be important ingredients in this transaction,” Aura Executive Chairman Peter Reeve said.
The transaction
The transaction will see Aura offer its Mauritanian gold and base metal licences into a joint venture (PubCo) and Chilean Metals will make four payments totalling C$4.5 million (roughly A$4.7 million) before October 2021. The third and fourth payments will be at Chilean’s absolute discretion.
The first payment of C$1.5 million (roughly A$1.58 million) is due on or before August 31, 2020.
The agreement will also see Aura receive one million shares in Chilean Metals and will hold three board seats in the joint venture while Chilean will hold two. Each company will have an equally-split 50/50 interest.
Aura and Chilean will now finalise a definitive agreement for the transaction and this is due by August 31.
Upcoming exploration at Tasiast South includes ground electrical geophysics to locate the strongest zones of disseminated sulphide development. This will assist in defining drilling targets. Additionally, airborne magnetic surveys will be conducted over the Nomads joint venture area to define geology and favourable structural zones.
Furthermore, additional bedrock sampling will be conducted to better define the high nickel ultramafic rocks and zones of copper and nickel.
Company shares last traded for 0.4 cents each on May 18.
