Europa Metals Ltd (AIM:EUZ, JSE:EUZ) is to acquire the Tynagh brownfield project in County Galway, Ireland.
Through a reverse takeover, the company is acquiring what’s described as an advanced recycling and rehabilitation project.
Europa separately reported the sale of its Toral project, in northern Spain, in a deal worth C$3.5 million. Denarius Metals, the acquirer, will issue 7mln shares in the Cboe and OTC listed firm as payment.
At Tynagh, the focus is on the recycling and rehabilitation of an area, a mine site that operated in the 1970s and 80s, that currently has a surface mineral resource of 6.65 million tonnes – comprising lead, zinc, copper and silver.
The transaction sees Europa acquire the project’s owner Viridian Metals, which in recent years has completed extensive technical studies to advance the project.
Post transaction, Viridian chair Julian Vickers will be the company’s new chief executive.
"The acquisition of Tynagh represents an important inflexion point for Europa whereby the company now has a clear pathway to affordable production,” Europa executive chair Myles Campion said in a statement.
“The board are excited to work with Julian Vickers and I look forward to assisting him in the realisation of his vision for the company."
According to Viridian, the mine’s past operators understood that much of the original metal content would remain in the tailings and re-treatment may be possible, and therefore carefully stored and segregated the material with this in mind.
Moreover, it believes the grade from tailings has an equivalent grade to what is being mined underground elsewhere today. Besides Tynagh’s recycling area, the project also hosts substantial ‘non-compliant’ waste stockpile (which could further boost the project’s recovered resources).
Julian Vickers, meanwhile, commented: "I am excited to bring the Tynagh project into the public domain and am looking forward to growing Europa into a diversified base, precious and critical metal producer over the coming years."
The transaction, if completed, would constitute a reverse takeover under AIM rules.
As such, Europa’s shares have been suspended from trading on both the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).