Antipa Sells Stake in Citadel Joint Venture to Rio Tinto for AU$17 Million

Antipa Minerals (ASX:AZY) has signed a binding term sheet to sell its interest in the Citadel joint venture to Rio Tinto Exploration (RTX), a subsidiary of mining giant Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO,NYSE:RIO,LSE:RIO).

In a September 13 press release, Antipa said the transaction will entail a one time payment of AU$17 million in cash, which will significantly bolster its reserves to approximately AU$23 million.

It will use the proceeds to further explore and advance its flagship Minyari Dome gold-copper project.

Established in October 2015 between RTX and Antipa, the Citadel joint venture is located north of the Paterson province in Western Australia. Antipa's stake is a non-controlling interest of about 32 percent.

Citadel's Calibre and Magnum deposits hold a resource of 127 million tonnes containing 2.84 million ounces of gold at 0.71 grams per tonne, 173,000 tonnes of copper at 0.13 percent and 2.1 million ounces of silver at 2.1 grams per tonne.

According to Antipa, Rio Tinto earned a 68 interest in the joint venture by “sole funding AU$25 million in exploration on the tenements up to 31 March 2021 and then co-contributing to future JV expenditure in accordance with its relevant (joint venture) interest.” To date, the company’s spending for the project has reached over AU$47 million.

RTX now owns 100 percent of the project following its purchase of Antipa’s 32 percent interest.

“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,” shared Roger Mason, managing director of Antipa.

“We look forward to sharing the outcomes from these project advancement milestones in the coming weeks."

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Securities Disclosure: I, Gabrielle de la Cruz, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.