Metal Tiger PLC (LON:MTR, ASX:MTR) welcomed Sandfire Resources Ltd’s (ASX:SFR) announcement it was granted a mining licence by the government of Botswana for the Motheo copper mine.
Metal Tiger has a capped US$2mln 2% net smelter royalty over production from the mine.
The granting of the licence was the last major permitting milestone required for full-scale construction of the US$279mln project to begin with initial site works already underway.
Metal Tiger also has a 2% uncapped net smelter royalty over about 8,000km2 of Sandfire's licence holdings in the Kalahari Copper Belt including PL190/2008 (excluding the Motheo copper mine project area), which hosts the A4 deposit.
An updated mineral resource estimate for the satellite A4 deposit is expected to be finalised in the coming weeks.
Sandfire remains on-track to deliver the first production from Motheo in early 2023.
Metal Tiger holds a 3.4% stake in Sandfire.