EV Resources to rope in up to US$6 million from Peruvian gold sale
EV Resources has sold its Yanamina gold and silver project in Peru to Canadian-listed firm Daura Gold, potentially earning up to US$6 million (A$9.29M). EV will be paid $150,000 upfront and receive a further $5.85M if agreed milestones are met.
The project was acquired by EV in 2019 for US$100,000, plus a series of deferred payments on achieving milestones and a 1 per cent net smelter royalty.
It was sold as part of the company's rationalisation process of disposing of non-core assets.
EV's board recently determined to reduce its expansive portfolio of promising projects. The company also recently sold its Coyote Creek antimony project in the US state of Utah, which EV acquired in April for less than $150,000 in cash and company shares.
The Coyote Creek sale to ASX-listed Trigg Minerals for a combination of cash and shares worth $450,000 yielded EV a quick profit and bolstered its financial position with additional cash while lowering its expenditure requirement.
Yanamina's disposal will further boost EV's cash holdings and place it in an enviable position to focus on its core projects in the Americas.
Upon completion of the sale, EV will receive US$150,000 from Daura Gold, which will also pay the project's 2024 licence fees due by June 30.
If agreed milestones are achieved, EV will be eligible to receive additional payments of US$150,000 one year after the sale is completed and US$1.7M in cash or Daura shares when Daura obtains a social licence from local communities to begin exploration work on the project. The licence must include an allowance for a minimum 10,000 metres of drilling at the site.
Within 60 days of starting to build commercial production infrastructure on site, EV will receive US$2M in cash or Daura shares, followed by a further US$2M in cash or Daura shares within 60 days of Daura beginning commercial production at the project.
Daura can also elect to issue company shares in lieu of cash in each instance where payment is required. The shares would be issued at a deemed price equivalent to the 30-day volume-weighted average price on the Canadian TSX-Venture exchange, calculated using the Bank of Canada's applicable exchange rate immediately prior to issuance.
Notably, if Daura elects to issue its company shares when each agreed payment stage is triggered, EV will retain exposure to the project and its potential upside. That wouldn't be a bad outcome, considering the gold price is still at turbocharged levels, fetching a phenomenal US$3305 (A$5126) per ounce gold.
Daura will assume responsibility for all production obligations agreed to by EV when it secured the project from the previous vendor, private company Happy Diamonds.
Management says it remains committed to its Americas-focused antimony strategy, which includes open pit mining opportunities, its Trigg shareholding and its proposed acquisition of 70 per cent of the Los Lirios open pit antimony mine in Oaxaca state in southern Mexico.
The United States currently imports all its antimony concentrates. The Coyote Creek project might be one of the active or emerging US and Canada-based projects to get a leg up from recent US executive orders and government initiatives to fast-track strategically important critical minerals projects.
EV also recently sold its La Cienega copper project in the US state of Arizona to fellow ASX-listed explorer Magnum Mining and Exploration.
EV is hoping to benefit from a 2 per cent net smelter return royalty on any future copper production at the project, allowing the company to retain exposure to upside from a project it considered non-core.
The company will likely use the profits from the recent sales to rapidly advance the recently acquired Los Lirios project in Oaxaca, Mexico, which is shaping up as a source of potential near-term cash flows.
EV acquired 70 per cent of the past-producing Los Lirios antimony mine, which encompasses 1652 hectares of antimony-rich historic open pits and underground workings.
Previous production from Los Lirios concentrated on antimony ore at direct shipping ore grades. Two grab samples from the Los Lirios 3 open pit returned antimony assays of 62 per cent and 62.99 per cent respectively.
In the wake of China's export bans over the past two years, critical minerals such as antimony have seen huge price increases as future supply concerns push demand for the mineral, which is used in semiconductors, ammunition, medical applications and as a lead alloy to harden the industrial base metal.
EV also holds a 70 per cent interest in the Parag project in Peru, a bulk-scale porphyry with a copper-molybdenum-silver deposit beginning from surface, and 50 per cent of the drill-permitted Don Enrique copper-silver project in Peru, which has several promising targets and access to water, power, roads and labour from nearby towns.
The company appears to be doing a sterling job of shoring up its cash position before launching an assault on its remaining prospective Americas assets.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact:
matt.birney@wanews.com.au
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