- A binding exploration farm-in and joint venture agreement between Prodigy Gold and Newmont Exploration, valued at $14.5 million, has been signed.
- Under the agreement, Newmont Goldcorp is to fund up to $12 million total in exploration expenditure to earn a 70 per cent interest in the Tobruk Project.
- The agreement increases Prodigy Gold’s total exploration earn-in from its earn-in partners to A$33 million.
- The Tobruk Exploration program is scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2019.
Prodigy Gold NL has signed an exploration farm-in and joint venture agreement with Newmont Exploration Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of the world’s largest gold miner Newmont Goldcorp Corporation, to advance exploration at the Tobruk Project in the Northern Territory.
The agreement, valued at A$14.5 million, covers Prodigy Gold’s tenements and tenement applications at the Tobruk Project, which is adjacent to Newmont Goldcorp’s Callie Mine.
The earn-in agreement terms come in two phases. In Phase 1, Newmont Goldcorp must make a non-refundable payment of A$1.5 million to Prodigy Gold within 20 business days of signing and can earn a 51 per cent interest in the Tobruk Project by spending A$6 million on exploration over four years.
Newmont Goldcorp can then increase its interest in the Tobruk Project to 70 per cent by spending an additional A$6 million on exploration within three years of electing to commence Phase two, and making an addition payment of A$1 million to Prodigy Gold within 20 days of electing.
Prodigy Gold Managing Director Matt Briggs said the company is very pleased to be partnering with Newmont Goldcorp.
“Newmont Goldcorp has a long and successful history in the Tanami area including developing the nearby Callie Gold Mine into a world-class gold deposit and we are looking forward to leveraging Newmont Goldcorp’s extensive technical knowledge as work gets underway at Tobruk this quarter,” he said.
The joint venture increases Prodigy Gold’s total exploration earn-in from its three earn-in partners to a maximum of A$33 million. Prodigy Gold also has partnerships with Newcrest Mining and Gladiator Resources.
The Tobruk Project covers the prospective Tanami group rocks in the Northern Territory that host Newmont Goldcorp’s Callie Gold Deposit and several smaller deposits.
Prodigy Gold’s Tobruk Project exploration program is set to begin in the second quarter of 2019 in parallel with the its extensive drilling program at the Lake Mackay Joint Venture Project with Independence Group.