Great Pacific Gold Corp is set to sell its Lauriston gold project in Victoria to Adelong Gold, as part of its plan to focus on its gold and copper projects in Papua New Guinea.
Lauriston is located adjacent to Agnico Eagle’s Fosterville gold mine in Bendigo, which is the largest gold producer in Victoria.
As per the binding sale agreement, Adelong Gold will pay Great Pacific Gold Corp $2.5 million in non-contingent cash payments for Lauriston, as well as $2 million in contingent cash payments and $1.5 million in Adelong Gold shares.
Great Pacific Gold Corp will also retain a two per cent net smelter return royalty over all future production from the tenements at Lauriston.
“The sale of Lauriston reflects our efforts over the past six months to create value for our shareholders from the company’s Australian assets,” Great Pacific Gold Corp chief executive officer Greg McCunn said.
“With the 1:1 spin out of Walhalla announced last week, our shareholders will benefit directly by receiving shares in an exciting new exploration company.”
Spanning 28,700 hectares, Lauriston comprises six exploration licences that hold multiple drill targets that Adelong plans to test, one being the Comet discovery.
Recent drilling at Comet uncovered high-grade mineralisation such as an intersection of 8m at 104 grams per tonne (g/t) of gold from 95m in drillhole CRC07, including 2m at 413 g/t of gold.
Recent detailed soil geochemistry also outlined a gold-antimony trend spanning more than 4.5km long, which connected the Comet and Trojan prospects and suggested mineralisation potential similar to Fosterville.
Once the transaction with Great Pacific Gold Corp is complete, Adelong Gold plans to finalise drill targeting to extend the high-grade mineralisation at Comet and test regional targets along the Comet-Trojan structural corridor.
Adelong Gold managing director Ian Holland said acquiring Lauriston is a significant step forward for the company.
“Lauriston’s high-grade Comet discovery, along with its regional prospectivity adjacent to Fosterville, provides a rare and exciting opportunity for near-term value creation through exploration,” Holland said.
“This acquisition strengthens our presence in Victoria, and we look forward to rapidly advancing exploration activities across the project.”
Subscribe to Australian Mining and receive the latest news on product announcements, industry developments, commodities and more.
