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African gold producer Goldplat has executed an earn-in option agreement with Ashanti Gold Corp., which gives the latter the option of acquiring 75% of Goldplat’s current 90% stake in the Anumso Gold Project in Ghana.
Ashanti would have first to spend US$3 million on exploration. During the first 18 months of the agreement, it will be given the option to earn 51% of Goldplat’s interest by spending an initial US$1.5-million on exploration.
Ashanti has the unilateral power to terminate the agreement within the first six months of the Initial Option Period. But in the case the company decides not to, it will be obliged to put forward the additional US$1.5 million on project expenditure or pay the deficiency to Goldplat.
Ashanti can also give Goldplat notice that it intends to invest further, which will trigger a second period of 12 months, where it will be given the option to earn an additional 24% of Goldplat’s interest by putting forward a further $1.5-million on exploration.
The project holds a 10-year renewable mining lease for gold and associated minerals covering an area of 29 square kilometres located in the Amansie East and Asante Akim South Districts of the Ghanaian Ashanti region.
It has a current Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant resource of 166,865 oz of gold at 2.04 g/t.
In an interview with ProactiveInvestors Stocktube, Goldplat’s chief executive Gerard Kisbey-Green said that in the past few years the company has not been able to commit capital to developing Anumso further. As of June 2016 losses amounted to some US$ 7,300.
Thus, Kisbey-Green deems ‘fantastic’ the fact that Ashanti stepped forward and “is prepared to invest capital into the project and earn into the project over a couple of years.”
He also said that, given the large amounts of money being laid out, he anticipates an increase in the quality of the resource.
