Marquee Resources has announced a shift to advance and monetise its existing asset portfolio after shareholders voted down its proposed acquisition of the Tungsten Mountain project.
At a general meeting held on August 14, Marquee shareholders strongly backed the company’s capital raising, passing resolutions approving Tranche 2 placement shares with 97.28 per cent support.
However, resolutions relating to consideration and facilitation shares for the Tungsten Mountain transaction failed to carry, effectively ending the acquisition in its current form.
In response, the Marquee board will concentrate capital on core domestic projects while reviewing non-core assets for potential joint ventures, sales, or spin-offs.
Immediate exploration efforts will centre on key Western Australian targets, including the Yindi gold and lithium project, where a first-phase reverse circulation (RC) drilling program of approximately 1,125 metres is scheduled for early September.
The company is also evaluating mapping results at West Spargoville alongside partner Mineral Resources, and preparing Phase 3 drilling at the Mt Clement antimony and gold project.
Concurrently, Marquee is assessing options to monetise international and non-core projects, including the Lone Star copper-gold project in North America, the Redlings REE project, and the Clayton Valley lithium project.
Marquee has more assets than it can sensibly advance at the same time. The review will look at the portfolio and distinguish which assets Marquee should fund directly and those where shareholder value may be better realised through a sale, joint venture, earn-in or separate vehicle.
Following the strategy change, Tranche 2 placement participants were given the option to re-confirm their subscriptions, with AU$600,000 re-committed to date. This includes an additional $100,000 commitment from Executive Chairman Charles Thomas, subject to shareholder approval at the upcoming AGM.
Executive Chairman Charles Thomas said the board accepted the clear message from the voting outcome.
“The vote was clear on one point: shareholders supported the funding but did not support the share issues required for Tungsten Mountain,” Thomas said.
“We will now concentrate our capital on the assets already in Marquee and be disciplined about which projects we advance ourselves and which we monetise.
“We do not need to advance every asset ourselves, and we should not dilute shareholders simply to keep every project moving at the same time.”
