- Aussie gold producer Northern Star Resources is set to enter a gold mining asset exchange with the newly formed Horizon Minerals.
- The swap will focus on tenements spread across Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie, with both companies expecting to finalise the trade by year’s end.
- The trade is set to boost Horizon’s acquisition play for the Coolgardie Gold Project.
Aussie gold producer Northern Star Resources is set to enter a gold mining asset exchange with the newly formed Horizon Minerals.
The swap will focus on tenements spread across Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie, with both companies expecting to finalise the trade by year’s end.
Horizon Minerals will part with its solely owned Anthill, Blister Dam, New Mexico, White Flag and Kanowna North projects to acquire Northern Star’s Rosehill, Brilliant North, Gunga West, Golden Ridge, Balagundi, Abattoir and Mt Monger projects.
Northern Star currently oversees five gold mining operations across Western Australia and Alaska. Cumulatively, the projects have resulted in the production of over 20 million ounces of gold. The company has consolidated its focus to three major assets; the Jundee, Kundana and Pogo operations.
Horizon is a new face in the gold mining game, born out of a merger between Interim and MacPhersons Resources in late July.
Amid news of the asset swap, the company is holding discussions with Focus Minerals to buy the Coolgardie Gold Project. Horizon went forward with a matching proposal last week after a competing offer was submitted, but the acquisition play remains under consideration.
“This is a sensible transaction between Horizon and Northern Star that place assets within each company’s areas of interest,” said Horizon’s Managing Director Jon Price of the asset trade.
“For Horizon, it adds contiguous tenure to the Boorara Gold Project area in Kalgoorlie and additional strategic assets in Coolgardie including the Rose Hill – Brilliant North tenements which give us the ability to unlock the full value of the Coolgardie Gold Project as we continue to progress formal binding documentation and required approvals for the potential acquisition,” Jon continued.
Horizon Minerals was up 12 per cent this morning following the announcement, currently trading at $0.14 apiece. Northern Star also enjoyed a slight boost, up 0.47 per cent at $10.63 per share.