(Alliance News) - Metal Tiger PLC on Thursday said that it has terminated farm-in discussions for the Boh Yai lead-zinc-silver mine located in Thailand and has instead invested an additional AUD1.1 million, around GBP547,665, in Australian miner Sandfire Resources Ltd.
The natural resources investor blamed the current economic environment and the risk-reward ratio for the termination of the farm-in and joint venture talks for the Thai project.
Metal Tiger first entered into farm-in talks for the Boh Yai project with Kanchanaburi Exploration & Mining Co Ltd, Boh Yai Mining Co Ltd and the majority owner of both companies, Pornnaret Klipbua, in August 2016.
The company said the Thai farm-in agreement would have represented a significant capital commitment from Metal Tiger over the next two years and that it was unable to reach terms with Klipbua to accept a deal without an upfront payment.
London-based Metal Tiger will be retaining its intellectual property in respect of the Boh Yai project and remains open to joint venture approaches from third parties to help capture the project's potential value.
Michael McNeilly, chief executive of Metal Tiger, said: "Clearly we are disappointed that we were unable to agree acceptable terms given the amount of work undertaken to demonstrate the investment case. With that said, Metal Tiger must look towards the future and take an optimised and moderated risk approach in the balancing of its allocation of funding."
Separately, Metal Tiger said it has acquired an additional 270,000 shares in Sandfire Resources at an average price of AUD4.03 per share, increasing the company's stake in Sandfire to around 3.7%.
Metal Tiger shares in London were down 6.4% at 1.17 pence each on Thursday afternoon.
By Tapan Panchal; tapanpanchal@alliancenews.com
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