Artemis amends Radio Hill buy

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Artemis Resources has amended the terms of its purchase of the Radio Hill nickel/copper/cobalt mine, in Western Australia.

Artemis in December 2016 inked an option agreement with Fox Resources to acquire the Radio Hill project for A$3.5-million. The company paid an option fee of A$200 000 for a three-month due diligence period, with the remaining A$3.3-million to be paid if a decision is taken to execute the transaction.

Artemis on Thursday said it has lowered the consideration for the Radio Hill project to A$2-million in cash, as well as the issue of 20-million Artemis shares to Fox Resources.

“This new deal makes it considerably easier for Artemis to close this very important acquisition earlier than originally anticipated,” said Artemis chairperson David Lenigas.

The asset includes the 425 000 t/y Radio nickel and copper processing plant, tailings storage facility, administration and maintenance buildings and a fully developed underground mine, which was placed on care and maintenance in 2008.

The project has a nickel/copper resource of 4.02-million tonnes, grading 0.51% nickel and 0.88% copper, with significant exploration upside potential.

He pointed out that the Radio Hill project was the only fully approved and permitted processing plant of this type in the West Pilbara, and needed to be brought back into production as soon as practicable to unlock the significant commercial potential of the nickel, cobalt, copper, gold, zinc and platinum deposits within the 40 km radius of the newly combined Artemis and Fox Resources multimetal portfolio.

“This plant also has a proven history of recovering cobalt from the Radio Hill nickel/copper/cobalt ores and this will be extremely valuable as we move down the discovery and development path of our new Carlow Castle cobalt/gold/copper project, allowing Artemis to potentially fast-track this exciting project,” Lenigas said.

Fox chairperson Terry Streeter said taking shares in Artemis as part of the acquisition price provided the company with the ability to capitalise on Artemis’s efforts to monetise a number of exciting deposits in the Karratha area.

The transaction was now subject to Artemis being satisfied with its due diligence, as well as shareholder, regulatory and any necessary ministerial approval.