Hamak Strategy Ltd, which combines traditional gold exploration in Africa with a digital asset treasury management strategy, said it has signed a binding term sheet with UK-based CAA Mining Limited to acquire the Akoko gold licence in southwest Ghana, subject to due diligence.
The Akoko licence, held under an option agreement between CAA and Ghanaian firm Topago Mining Limited, hosts a historically defined inferred gold resource of 276,500 ounces at an average grade of 1.6 grammes per tonne, much of it near surface and potentially suitable for low-cost open-pit mining and heap-leach recovery.
London-listed Hamak said its initial technical review using CAA’s data room produced “very positive results,” identifying a more conservative, robust resource estimate of 252,659 ounces of contained gold at an average grade of 0.58g/t.
Under the agreement, Hamak will pay £20,000 for a 120-day exclusivity period to complete detailed technical and legal due diligence on the project.
If the due diligence is successful, the company said it would commit to spending at least £500,000 in 2026 on further exploration and confirmatory work, with the aim of upgrading the resource and completing an economic scoping study for an open-pit, heap-leach operation.
Subject to satisfactory results, Hamak would have the right to exercise its option before 14 December 2026, through a package comprising £50,000 in cash to CAA, the issuance of £1 million in new Hamak shares to CAA or its nominees, and a $1.9mn payment to Topago. The new shares would be subject to a six-month escrow and issued at a 10 percent premium to the 30-day volume-weighted average price.
The proposed consideration equates to an acquisition cost of $8 to $10 per ounce of gold, Hamak said.
“Hamak has secured the binding rights to acquire a high potential gold project in the heart of one of the most prolific gold areas in West Africa,” executive director Karl Smithson said. “The current Akoko gold resource of over 250,000 ounces provides a great opportunity for Hamak to quickly assess the economic viability of a low-cost open pit mining operation.”
Smithson added: “Furthermore, based on the historical data and results, we see the potential for a much larger gold resource in the Akoko licence.”
He said the valuation was attractive given market conditions. “The relative acquisition cost of $8 to 10 per ounce of gold, we believe, provides shareholders with a significant value accretive transaction opportunity, particularly considering the current strong and positive outlook for the gold price,” Smithson said.
“We look forward to providing further updates as the final stages of due diligence are completed in the first quarter of 2026,” he added.
As part of the deal, CAA would be entitled to appoint its chief executive, veteran gold executive Douglas Chikohora, to Hamak’s board once the option is exercised and shares are issued. CAA would also receive a net smelter royalty of 0.5% on gold production up to 250,000 ounces, rising to 1 percent up to one million ounces, capped, with Hamak retaining a right of first refusal to buy out the royalty.
The Akoko project lies around 25 kilometres south of Tarkwa in Ghana’s Ashanti greenstone belt, one of West Africa’s most prolific gold regions and home to world-class mines operated by Gold Fields and AngloGold Ashanti.
Ghana, Africa’s largest gold producer, expects national output to rise by about 6.25% to 5.1mn ounces in 2025, up from a record 4.8mn ounces last year, with much of the production concentrated in the Western Region where Akoko is located.
Hamak said the geology at Akoko is consistent with known mineralisation styles elsewhere in the Ashanti belt, reinforcing the project’s potential to host economically viable gold deposits.
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