Native Mineral Resources Holdings Ltd. has entered into a binding joint venture agreement with Citigold Corporation Ltd. covering 40 tenements in the historic Charters Towers goldfield in Queensland.
Effective 7 November, the agreement encompasses 30 granted mining leases across the Central, Warrior, and Stockholm areas, alongside four Mineral Development Licences and five Exploration Permits for Minerals covering over 20,500 hectares of surrounding ground.
The JV tenements host the majority of Citigold’s JORC-compliant resources, including Indicated resources of 764,000 ounces of gold at 7.6 grams per tonne (g/t) and Inferred resources of 11.5 million ounces of gold at 13.5 g/t.
NMR CEO Blake Cannavo noted that the deal provides a disciplined opportunity to expand local operations.
“Importantly, NMR retains operational control and will first complete proving-up drilling before deciding whether mining should proceed.”
Under the terms of the deal, NMR receives exclusive rights to conduct exploration and proving-up drilling while retaining sole operational control.
If technical assessments confirm economic viability, NMR may proceed with mining operations, hauling and processing recovered ore through its nearby Blackjack processing facility, located within 10 kilometres of the tenements.
Financially, eligible NMR expenditure will be recovered from gross smelt proceeds alongside an 8 per cent margin. Any remaining surplus will be divided 50:50 between NMR and Citigold.
Furthermore, NMR will pay Citigold a one-off AU$5 million production payment once 8,000 ounces of gold are produced from the site. Citigold will retain ownership of the tenements and responsibility for keeping them in good standing.
Citigold Executive Chairman Mark Lynch added that the partnership creates a practical pathway to bring high-grade mineralisation into production using NMR’s established infrastructure.
“If the results support development, the joint venture provides a practical pathway to bring additional mineralised material into production for the benefit of both companies.”
