THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Resource and Investment (ASX: RNI) has reached an agreement with Montezuma Mining Company (ASX:MZM) for an option to acquire control of the Peak Hill gold project, located north of Meekatharra in Western Australia.

Peak Hill comprises mining leases and prospecting and exploration licences covering a total of 211 square kilometres, which contain JORC-compliant gold resources of more than 560,000 ounces in a series of historic open pits (based on 11.52 million tonnes at 1.51 grams per tonne gold).

Peak Hill adjoins leases within RNI’s 2,225sqkm Grosvenor project, which hosts JORC-compliant gold resources of 1.2 million ounces. This gives a combined gold inventory of more than 1.7 million ounces.

 

Location of RNI’s Grosvenor project and the Peak Hill gold project. Source: Company announcement

 

RNI is currently refurbishing the one million tonne per annum Grosvenor gold plant, which it said is scheduled to resume production in 2013.

“The Peak Hill deal is in line with RNI’s strategy of unlocking stranded gold deposits in the area as the company continues its gold and base metals exploration programs,” Resource and Investment said in its ASX announcement.

“RNI plans to review the Peak Hill gold resources to assess whether they may be suitable to include in the company’s long-term mining plan for the refurbished Grosvenor gold plant.”

Under the terms of the agreement RNI, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Grosvenor Gold, will pay Montezuma $100,000 for an option to acquire its wholly-owned subsidiary Peak Hill Metals.

Peak Hill Metals holds leases comprising the Peak Hill gold project. Approximately 547,000 ounces of the Peak Hill gold resources are attributable to Peak Hill Metals and are thus covered by the option with RNI.

Should Grosvenor Gold exercise the option to acquire Peak Hill Metals, the consideration to be paid to Montezuma will be $2.8 million, 8.4 million fully paid ordinary RNI shares and 2.1 million unlisted 75 cent RNI options exercisable within 3 years from the date of issue.

In addition, Grosvenor Gold will pay Montezuma a gross royalty of one per cent of all revenue received from the sale or disposal of ore from the Peak Hill project tenements to a limit of $1 million.

THE BOURSE WHISPERER: IMX Resources (ASX:IXR) has announced good metallurgical results from initial flotation test work on samples of disseminated hanging wall mineralisation taken from the Sleeping Giant zone at the company’s Ntaka Hill nickel sulphide project.

The project is located west of the port town of Mtwara in Tanzania, and is part of the 100 per cent-owned Nachingwea property.

“These positive results demonstrate the potential to economically recover nickel from the large tonnage disseminated hanging wall nickel mineralisation included in the March 2012 mineral resource update,” IMX Resources managing director Neil Meadows said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“This positive proof of concept is a big step forward on the path towards developing a mine at Ntaka Hill.

“This preliminary test work is the first phase of the definitive metallurgical program designed to fast track critical design decisions for development.

“Further test work is ongoing with 12 tonnes of samples currently being tested in Canada, with results expected to be available in the first quarter of 2013.”

IMX used test conditions these initial flotation tests that were identical to those developed for the main higher grade core of Sleeping Giant, in which high grade concentrates (up to 18 per cent nickel) were produced from a relatively coarse grind size (average: P80 of 100 micron1) with low reagent additions.

The company said this represents extremely simple conventional processing for nickel flotation.

By blending this disseminated hanging wall mineralisation with the main higher grade nickel from the Sleeping Giant Zone, or the other higher grade zones at Ntaka Hill, IMX claimed it expects a premium nickel concentrate to be produced, which it hopes would be highly sought after and potentially attract premium prices.

The flotation tests were carried out on ten disseminated nickel sulphide diamond core samples, eight of which returned good results with the remaining two samples returning ‘outlier‘ results that IMX said require further investigation.

 

Preliminary flotation results. Source: Company announcement

 

Head grades of between 0.25 per cent and 0.39 per cent nickel, and 0.03 per cent to 0.11 per cent copper were tested to produce nickel and copper concentrates averaging 11.2 per cent nickel and 3.2 per cent copper respectively, at average recoveries of 69.1 per cent for nickel and 83.2 per cent for copper with manganese oxide contaminant levels averaging 6.5 per cent (excluding ‘outlier’ tests).

IMX said further metallurgical test work, including mineralogical investigations, will now be carried out on the disseminated hanging wall mineralisation to:

–    Understand the performance of the two ’outlier‘ tests with respect to lithology and volumes of material affected; and

–     Optimise the flotation conditions, which should lead to improvements in concentrate grade and metal recoveries.

This test work is part of the large definitive test work program being carried out to provide the design basis for the processing facilities at Ntaka Hill.

THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Polymetals Mining (ASX:PLY) has entered into an agreement to acquire 100 per cent of the shares in Lansdowne Resources.

But wait, there’s more – the deal also comes with the associated rights to earn into a 75 per cent share of the Turner River gold and base metals Joint Venture and the option to purchase a 75 per cent interest in the Wingina Well gold resource.

The Turner River project is located south of Port Hedland within a granite-greenstone terrane of the Pilbara Craton of Western Australia.

 

Turner River gold and base metal project areas. Source: Company announcement

 

“Polymetals is committed to seeking growth opportunities that benefit from the company’s proven skills in developing projects quickly and economically,” Polymetals Mining chief executive officer Frank Terranova said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“The Turner River project is one such opportunity and we are excited about its potential.”

Polymetals said it considers the Turner River project to be prospective for additions to the existing resources and discovery of additional resources.

Mineral Resources at the Wingina Well project have been estimated at 5.1 million tonnes at 1.34 grams per tonne gold for 220,000 ounce of gold and will be the initial focus of exploration with the objective to rapidly progress the project to a development decision.

The purchase consideration to be paid to Lansdowne’s shareholders comprises:

–     Upfront payment of $0.5 million cash and $0.75 million of fully paid Polymetals shares; and

–    $0.5 million of fully paid Polymetals shares or cash at the sellers’ election in nine months from date of acquisition.

Milestone payments will be made to the sellers upon the development of a Gold project as follows:

–    $0.75 million of fully paid Polymetals shares or cash at Polymetals’ election upon decision to mine; and

–    $0.75 million of fully paid Polymetals shares or cash at Polymetals’ election upon first production.

The following milestone payments will be made to the sellers upon the development of a Base Metals project:

–    $1.0 million of fully paid Polymetals shares or cash at the sellers’ election upon definition of a 0.75 million ounce gold equivalent Resource: and

–    $1.0 million of fully paid Polymetals shares or cash at the sellers’ election upon a decision to mine.

Tenements comprising the Turner River gold and base metals projects are the subject of a farm-out and joint venture agreement with De Grey Mining (ASX:DEG) under which Lansdowne may earn a 75 per cent interest in the project by funding exploration expenditure of $2 million and $1.5 million respectively over three years, which commenced in May 2011.

Exploration expenditure by Lansdowne to date is approximately $1.1 million and therefore the Polymetals’ requirement to earn into the Turner River projects is a further $2.4 million by May 2014.

THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Exploration work being conducted by Desert Mines and Metals (ASX:DSN) is targeting massive nickel-copper sulphide deposits in the north-western Yilgarn Craton of Central Western Australia.

The company is working on the Camel Hills Joint Venture tenements (Aurora Minerals ASX:ARM 40 per cent).

The tenements include two previously known but undrilled intrusives, where Desert Mines said recent exploration has discovered three additional plugs.

 

Camel Hills – prospecting and drilling targets. Source: Company announcement

 

The company has overcome poor outcrop and extensive laterite cover at Camel Hills by using aeromagnetics to identify potential intrusives.

This was followed up by ground prospecting and sampling, which discovered gossanous or mineralised outcrop (Far West and 3D targets) while Electromagnetic (EM) geophysical surveys identified the Far West, 3D, as well as CN2 and Innouendy targets for subsequent drill-testing.

Rock-chip samples of gossanous and lateritic surface material from Far West and 3D assayed up to 5.2 per cent chromium, 4260 parts per million nickel, 818 parts per million copper and 1920 parts per million zinc, with anomalous platinum (29 parts per billion) and palladium (14ppb).

A soil sampling program in 2010 confirmed the presence of ultramafic intrusive and highlighted chromium-nickel-copper anomalies as indicators of potential sulphide mineralisation.

“To follow up on unresolved EM conductors at Innouendy, Desert has commissioned a down-hole and ground EM survey, which is expected to resolve discrete targets for drilling,” Desert Mines and Metals said in its announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“Depending on success, follow-up ground EM and drilling at Far West, 3D and CN2 is planned.”

Under the terms of the JV agreement, Desert can earn a 51 per cent interest in the Camel Hills project from Aurora Minerals by sole funding the first $3.4 million of exploration expenditure.

Desert can elect to continue sole funding to earn an additional 19 per cent interest in the project, for a total 70 per cent interest.

The tenement package currently exceeds some 1,600 square kilometres, which the company’s geologists consider to be prospective for gold, copper, nickel and iron ore.