Blackthorn Resources to fly solo after BHP withdrawal
THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Blackthorn Resources has found out that its major Joint Venture partner BHP Billiton intends to withdraw from direct involvement in the Mumbwa JV Project in Zambia.
Not all is lost for the junior member of the partnership however, as under the terms of the JV agreement BHP will assign its interest to Blackthorn, which will then hold a 100% interest in the Mumbwa Project.
BHP will still remain in the picture being entitled to receive a 2% production value royalty from any future mining to be conducted on the Mumbwa JV area.
“This is a very positive development indeed for Blackthorn Resources’ shareholders,” Blackthorn Resources managing director Scott Lowe said in an announcement.
Following termination of the JV, our company will hold 100% of the equity in the project where there is already an Inferred Mineral Resource.
“We are confident about the potential to expand this resource and also very optimistic about the prospectivity of the Mumbwa region.
“There are targets within the lease area that remain untested and we are enthusiastic about drilling in these areas.
Blackthorn Resources would like to thank BHP Billiton for the opportunity to earn-in to the Mumbwa Project and for their efforts.
“We look forward to continuing to collaborate on the transition process, including tenement management.”
The date for termination of the JV and some detailed arrangements applying to BHP’s withdrawal have yet to be agreed and are the subject of discussions.
In the meantime Blackthorn intends to work closely with BHP to keep the Mumbwa prospecting licence in good standing and to affect a renewal and transfer of the licence to Blackthorn’s Zambian subsidiary in due course.
The prospecting licence currently covers a 500 square kilometre area, of which a mandatory 50% must be relinquished upon renewal, due in the latter half of 2011.
Blackthorn already has the planning for a future exploration program underway.
This will include further delineation of the inferred mineral resource at Kitumba and the assessment of other regional scale targets.
An initial drilling program will aim to increase the drilling density and confidence levels of the Kitumba deposit and upgrade the mineral resource status based on results from the infill and step-out drilling.
Blackthorn says it is encouraged by the prospectivity at Kitumba and is eager to conduct work to further validate it as a world class copper deposit.
The company reported a JORC code compliant inferred mineral resource for the Kitumba deposit in October 2009, which was estimated at 87 million tonnes grading 0.94% copper (using 0.5% copper cut-off).
A proposed follow-up Phase 5 drilling program initially plans to core drill to infill the existing drill pattern and subsequently conduct step-out drilling to test areas where mineralisation is considered ‘open’.