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(Alliance News) - Empire Metals Ltd said Monday it has entered a binding heads of terms agreement with ASX-listed Artemis Resources Ltd to acquire a 41% interest in the Munni Munni palladium project in Pilbara, Australia for GBP975,000.
Shares in the resources exploration and development company were 19% higher at 1.13 pence on Monday in London.
Munni Munni has a JORC resource of 24 million tonnes at 2.9 grams per tonnes of platinum group element and gold, containing 1.14 million ounces of palladium, 830,000 ounces of platinum, 152,000 ounces of gold and 76,000 ounces of rhodium.
Artemis currently holds a 70% interest in Munni Munni, with the remaining 30% held by Platina Resources Ltd. Almeera Ventures Ltd has a claim to an option over Artemis's holding.
Empire will pay GBP950,000 through the issue of 95 million shares at a price of 1p per share, and a cash option payment of GBP25,000.
The total number of shares to be issued by Empire comes up to 95 million shares.
The acquisition is subject to several conditions, including the completion of due diligence, and execution of a formal joint venture agreement between all parties, as well as necessary regulatory approvals.
Should the acquisition be completed, Empire Metals will hold a 41% interest in the project, followed by Platina with 30% Artemis with 19% and Almeera will hold 10%.
"This acquisition represents the start of a new chapter for Empire. Over the past 18 months the company has been actively reviewing a number of exciting opportunities to fulfil the objective of de-risking our growth strategy by diversifying away from a single jurisdiction investment. We believe the opportunity presented with the Munni Munni project in Australia satisfies this goal by combining an exceptional project with an attractive and mature investment environment," said Chief Executive Officer Mike Struthers.
By Dayo Laniyan; dayolaniyan@alliancenews.com
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