Antipa Minerals Ltd (ASX: AZY) (Antipa or the Company) is pleased to announce it has agreed binding terms for the sale of its approximately 32% non-controlling interest in the Citadel Joint Venture Project (Citadel, or the Citadel Project) to joint venture partner Rio Tinto Exploration Pty Ltd (RTX, or Rio Tinto) for consideration of A$17 million cash (the Transaction).
Proceeds from the Transaction will significantly bolster Antipa's cash reserves to approximately A$23 million, enabling further exploration and advancement of its 100%-owned Minyari Dome Gold-Copper Project (Minyari Dome)
Highlights
Monetises Antipa's entire non-core 32% non-controlling interest in the Citadel Project. Cash consideration of A$17 million payable on completion, with no tax liability expected to be incurred. Conditions precedent limited to (1) executing a formal sale agreement and (2) entering into deeds in favour of the relevant Native Title parties. Completion expected by November 2024. Upon completion, Antipa expects to have approximately of A$23 million dollars in cash. Transaction enables Antipa to fund on its 100%-owned Minyari Dome Project drilling programmes in conjunction with development appraisal related workstreams.
Commenting on the Transaction, Antipa's Managing Director, Roger Mason, said: 'We are very pleased to have signed a binding term sheet with long-standing Citadel joint venture partner, Rio Tinto. The sale of our minority, non-controlling, interest in the Citadel Project, which was a non-core asset for Antipa, liberates cash, providing an extremely solid financial foundation from which to accelerate the development of our flagship, wholly owned Minyari Dome Project. Rio Tinto was the natural buyer for Citadel, and the A$17 million all-cash consideration fully reflects current value of our interest in the asset, positioning us to focus on unlocking the full potential at Minyari Dome. Our team is busy finalising an update to the existing Minyari deposit Mineral Resource including simultaneously preparing a maiden Mineral Resource for GEO-01. Together, these deposits will form a basis for a revised Minyari Dome Scoping Study. We look forward to sharing the outcomes from these project advancement milestones in the coming weeks.'
Project Background
The Citadel Joint Venture was established in 2015 between Rio Tinto Exploration Pty Ltd (RTX), a wholly owned subsidiary of Rio Tinto Limited, and Antipa, and encompasses 1,200km2 of tenure in the Paterson Province of Western Australia. Citadel hosts a Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) across its Calibre and Magnum deposits which collectively total 127 million tonnes containing 2.84 Moz of gold at 0.71 g/t, 173 kt copper at 0.13% and 2.1 Moz of silver at 2.1 g/t. Since the Citadel Project's inception, Rio Tinto has spent in excess of A$47 million on exploration to earn its current 68% interest. In the last two years, Antipa elected to utilise the dilute-down provisions in the Citadel joint venture agreement to fund its share of exploration, resulting in its joint venture interest being reduced from 35% to 32%
Transaction Detail
Under the terms of the Transaction, Rio Tinto has agreed to pay A$17 million in cash for Antipa's 32% interest in Citadel, with the full amount payable on completion. There are no regulatory approvals required meaning that, subject to satisfying the limited conditions precedent, the Transaction is expected to complete by November 2024. Antipa has significant carried forward tax losses which were not previously recognised as deferred tax assets in its annual financial statements, due to the uncertainty on recouping these losses. It is expected that any taxable profit realised from the sale of the Company's interest in Citadel will be wholly offset against Antipa's carry forward tax losses
Contact:
Rodda Michael
Vaughan Managing Director
Antipa Minerals Ltd
Tel: +61 (0)8 9481 1103
About Antipa Minerals
Antipa Minerals Ltd (ASX: AZY) (Antipa or the Company) is a leading mineral exploration company with a strong track record of success in discovering world-class gold-copper deposits in the highly prospective Paterson Province of Western Australia. The Company's exploration and advancement programmes remain focused on identifying and unlocking the full potential of the region, which offers significant opportunities for profitable mining operations. The Company's tenement granted holding covers over 5,100km2 and hosts attributable Mineral Resources of 2.8Moz of gold, 120kt of copper and 1.3Moz of silver, in a region that is home to Newmont's world-class Telfer mine and some of the world's more recent large gold-copper discoveries including Rio Tinto's Winu and Newmont-Greatland Gold's Havieron.3 Exploration success has led to the discovery of several major mineral deposits on Antipa's ground, including the wholly owned, flagship 880km2 Minyari Dome Gold-Copper Project. Minyari Dome currently hosts a 2.2 Moz gold resource (at 1.5 g/t). A Scoping Study (August 2022) indicated the potential for a sizeable initial development with further substantial upside. Antipa is pursuing an aggressive drilling programme this year, targeting substantial and rapid growth to the existing goldcopper resources at Minyari Dome, delivering strong further value enhancement to the existing development opportunity, and making new significant gold-copper discoveries
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