In a collaborative effort, Blackham Resources (ASX:BLK) and A-Cap Resources (ASX:ACB) have formed a farm-in joint venture for the Wiluna cobalt-nickel project in Western Australia.

Through the agreement, A-Cap will acquire a 75-percent interest in Wiluna for $11 million. The company will initially receive a 20-percent stake through a cash payment of AU$2.8 million to Blackham. Following the payment, A-Cap will obtain third-party exploration data on Wiluna for an additional AU$100,000.

Afterwards, A-Cap can acquire an additional 35 percent by paying Blackham AU$500,000 within two years, and contributing AU$5 million to exploration works and activities requiring expenditure, such as the completion of a definitive feasibility study (DFS).

To earn its final 20-percent interest, rounding its stake to 75 percent, A-Cap must complete Wiluna’s DFS within three years, pay Blackham an additional AU$1 million and issue Blackham AU$1.5 million worth of A-Cap shares upon the DFS’ completion.

Blackham Chairman Milan Jerkovic spoke highly of the transaction in a statement, highlighting the company’s plans to realign its focus.

“Blackham is delighted to have partnered with A-Cap to add value to the sizeable Wiluna cobalt nickel project,” he said. “This transaction is consistent with Blackham’s previous stated strategy of divesting non core assets allowing it to focus on its Matila-Wiluna gold operation.”

Also referred to as the Wilconi project, the asset’s tenements consist of seven granted mining leases, two granted exploration licenses, a granted prospecting license, a retention license and two exploration license applications. Wilconi spans 490 square kilometers, and is located 700 kilometers from Perth.

Previous exploration work at the project site, conducted by Snowden Mining Industry Consultants on behalf of then-operator Agincourt Resources, returned a JORC 2004 inferred resource of 80.5 million tonnes grading 0.77 percent nickel and 0.058 percent cobalt using a 0.5-percent nickel cut-off grade.

Going forward, A-Cap plans to infill the previous drill pattern to define JORC 2012 resources and reserves, focusing on higher cobalt grades within the resource. The company will also concentrate on metallurgical studies to determine the most efficient metallurgical techniques for the deposit.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Olivia Da Silva, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.