Emergent Resources to adjust focus on Columbia

THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Emergent Resources (ASX:EMG) has entered into a conditional agreement to acquire West Rock Resources, a move the company claims will reposition it as a Colombian-focused base and precious metals explorer.

A privately-owned Australian entity, West Rock has an established exploration team in Colombia, and, through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, has the rights to an exploration and exploitation licence located in the Southern Antioquia region of Colombia.

The licence consists of one fully granted tenement covering a total land area of 1,998 hectares (approximately 20sqkm) and is located near the town of Tarso, in close proximity to the world-class deposits of Marmato and Titiribi.

 

Project location details, including the major copper/gold belts in Colombia. Source: Company announcement

 

Emergent was eager to tell about West Rock’s Tarso project area being located in, what it identified to be, one of the world’s most prospective new gold belts with over 50 million ounces of gold resources reported discovered in the last five years by major mining houses.

Adding further icing on the cake, West Rock also has a Strategic Alliance with major, New York-listed international mining company Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE: CLF) whereby Cliffs will provide funding to West Rock to identify and explore projects in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region.

“We are very excited about exploring in Colombia, unlocking the tremendous potential of the West Rock assets and building the project portfolio in such a prolifically mineralised and underexplored jurisdiction,” Emergent Resources chairman Wolfgang Fischer said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“The proposed transaction is further enhanced by the alliance between Cliffs Natural Resources and West Rock which offers Emergent remarkable growth possibilities by partnering with a proven minerals giant like Cliffs.

“The West Rock-Cliffs alliance speaks volumes about the confidence and respect Cliffs has for the professionalism and expertise of the West Rock team members.

“This ‘company making’ transaction is a unique opportunity combining projects with exceptional potential and a very strong, professional team with extensive exploration and commercial experience.”

Following the completion of the acquisition, Emergent indicated it intends to commence an aggressive exploration campaign in Colombia initially focusing on the Tarso project area.

Emergent shares were up 31.58 per cent to 2.5 cents on the back of the news.