Lonmin PLC is entering a joint venture with Wallbridge Mining Company Ltd. to acquire an interest in its North Range properties in the Sudbury area.
“The North Range properties provide a unique opportunity for grassroots discovery around the Sudbury basin, Canada's premier mining district,” Wallbridge president Marz Kord said in a news release. “This new agreement with Lonmin demonstrates the strength of our strategy of identifying projects and advancing them towards discovery while minimizing risk and dilution to shareholders.”
Under terms of a 2007 private placement subscription agreement, Lonmin has the right to enter in a joint venture on any of the North Range properties after providing $3.9 million of funding for the initial exploration.
The company has decided to exercise its right to 14 of the North Range properties covering an area of 408 square kilometres.
Under the joint venture agreement, Lonmin can earn a “50 per cent interest in Wallbridge's rights to the North Range properties by spending twice the amount expended on the proerties to date, subject to any underlying interests held by third parties,” according to the news release.
Recent exploration by Wallbridge at these properties has identified a number of priority exploration targets for platinum group metals, nickel, copper and gold, and led to the discovery of 46.5 km of new offset dyke structures and a number of new mineral occurrences.
The joint venture announcement comes a day after Wallbridge indicated it had completed a private placement of 5,875,557 flow-through units of the company at 21 cents per unit, raising $1,233,867.
Kord said the funds would be used to “accelerate a very active exploration program” at its Canadian properties.
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