AuKing Mining Ltd (ASX:AKN) has inked an agreement with Anglo Australian Resources NL (ASX:AAR) (AAR (NYSE:AIR)) to acquire the remaining 25% interest in the Koongie Park Project as well as platinum group element (PGE) rights across the tenure.
The acquisition carries a purchase price of A$6 million payable in three tranches, the first being $3 million in cash due in May. The other two tranches involve payments of $1.5 million in AKN shares to be issued before June 30, 2022, and $1.5 million in cash to be paid by October 31, 2022.
AuKing intends to fund the purchase with the proceeds of a combined proposed rights issue to existing shareholders and a strategic private placement to sophisticated investors. Details will be available shortly.
Acquisition consolidates holding
“This transaction marks an incredibly important milestone for AKN. The proposed acquisition allows the company to consolidate its ownership of Koongie Park to 100% and leaves AKN in a powerful position to progress the Onedin and Sandiego deposits,” AuKing CEO Paul Williams said.
“In addition, the AAR deal secures for AKN the PGE rights across the entire Koongie Park tenure package. This is a potentially very important transaction because a significant part of this tenure package surrounds the areas that have been the subject of outstanding drilling results from PNR.
“AKN has already identified drill targets within the nearby Koongie Park tenures and looks forward to the opportunity to replicate the success that [Pantoro] has achieved with their Lamboo PGE discovery.”
Sections of Koongie Park’s tenure adjoins Pantoro Ltd (ASX:PNR)’s Lamboo PGE Deposit, which has previously returned PGE results of:
- 30 metres at 1.03 g/t platinum, palladium and gold (3E) from 3 metres, including 0.54% nickel and 0.033% cobalt; and
- 5 metres at 1.87 g/t platinum, palladium and gold (3E) from 153 metres, including 0.20% nickel and 0.012% cobalt.
Pantoro is planning a further 20,000 metres of drilling this year, which may provide valuable insights for AuKing if the companies’ tenure shares geological structures and controls.
Historic soil sampling on nearby Koongie Park tenure has already demonstrated anomalous zones of platinum, palladium, nickel and cobalt, providing AuKing with confidence that the Lamboo mineralisation may extend into AKN’s ground.