Empire Metals Ltd (AIM:EEE) has consolidated its footprint around its flagship Eclipse gold project, in Western Australia, increasing it by more than 200% to a total of 943 hectares.
Through a tribute agreement with Maher Mining Contractors, the company has gained the right to explore, develop and mine within a granted area on Maher Mining's wholly-owned Gindalbie gold project, which sits adjacent to the eastern edge of the Eclipse licence.
The granted area covers some 643 hectares of highly prospective ground, which includes multiple historical mines.
“We are very pleased to reach an understanding with our neighbour at Eclipse, Maher Mining, which allows us to explore and if successful, develop a mine within their mining lease,” said Shaun Bunn, Empire managing director.
“Extending our exploration into this new area, in parallel with further phases of drilling into the primary mineralisation at Eclipse, offers the potential to develop a significant increase in the scale of mineralisation in the field.
“This is an exciting opportunity, significantly expanding our exploration camp in the Gindalbie goldfields and opens the door for further development and acquisitions in this region."
Empire noted that the area has been subject to significant exploration in the past, with a number of significant gold intercepts from historical RAB and RC drilling, plus extensive soils and geochemistry surveys.
The tribute agreement cost Empire A$250,000 for an initial six-month exploration term. It can pay a further A$250,000 to extend that for another eighteen months, and, it is committed to spend at least A$250,000 on exploration in each of the two periods.