CuFe sells its Crossroads gold royalty to Northern Star for $4M cash; says better than waiting for mine launch

CuFe Ltd (ASX:CUF) has decided not to wait around for Northern Star’s Crossroads mine to get up and running, selling its $4M royalty right.

The royalty is a standard 2% net smelter deal. Whether CuFe ends up regretting its decision remains to be seen but the company is more interested in advancing development at its 55% owned Tennant Creek (TC) copper-gold play.

With an existing mineral estimate attached to TC of 7.3Mt of ore at 1.7% copper and 0.6g/t gold, at least CuFe knows it has something there.

It’s been a hard year for the company.

Consider the company’s name, CuFe – the elementary symbols for copper and iron.

Earlier this year, CuFe ditched its iron plays all together as, like lithium, lower iron ore prices have shaken juniors in that metal out of the tree. That was only in August.

“We are pleased to have been able to engage with Northern Star on their plans for Crossroads and this has assisted us in understanding the timing and tonnage potential of the royalty stream,” CuFe ED Mark Hancock said.

“Having considered the pros and cons of holding the royalty through to commencement of mining operations and possibility receiving additional funds over a longer period of time, we believe the certainty of knowing what we will receive from the deal and being able to plan our work programs accordingly offers the best option for us.

“The Tennant Creek area is hot right now and these funds will enable us to increase our focus there as well as on our other prospective projects.”

At this time of year, it would be.

CUF last traded at 0.7cps.

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