Westar re-thinks purchase of Uley North Graphite project; decides to look elsewhere on land access concerns

Westar Resources (ASX:WSR) has decided not to proceed with acquiring the Uley North Graphite Project in South Australia after re-thinking the whole thing through.

Shareholders may ultimately be pleased, given that it’s already focusing on gold in WA.

While the company pointed to “due diligence,” Westar CEO Jason Boladeras also pointed out “excellent graphite exploration targets,” suggesting the company had a pretty good idea of what it was looking at from the outset.

Perhaps less looked at: land access agreements.

“Possible land access hurdles are likely to take considerable time to investigate further,” Boladeras said on Thursday. It’s not clear if he meant farmers or First Australians.

“Since entering an Option Agreement in April 2024, Westar completed a field trip and significant due diligence, including extensive land access reviews led by South Australian experts with detailed local knowledge and experience in exploration approval procedure,” the company wrote on Thursday.

“Westar has agreed to provide its data to the vendors as part of handing the project back in good standing.”

WSR last traded at 0.8cps.