White Rock Minerals executes definitive agreement with Thomson Resources to advance Mt Carrington Gold-Silver Project

White Rock Minerals Ltd (ASX:WRM) (OTCMKTS:WRMCF) and Thomson Resources (ASX:TMZ) have executed a definitive agreement to advance the Mt Carrington Gold-Silver Project in northern New South Wales following the completion of due diligence.

The agreement provides for a three-stage earn-in and option to joint venture whereby Thomson can earn-in for up to 70% of White Rock’s Mt Carrington project and at Thomson’s election form a JV.

It also contemplates Thomson funding the advancement of Mt Carrington through to:

• A definitive feasibility study;
• Completion and submission of the environmental impact statement (EIS); and
• Concurrent with community consultation, achieving government development consent and sourcing funding  – so placing the project and its partners in a position to then fund, build and commission the project under the joint venture agreement.

“Clear strategy to unlock potential”

Managing director Matt Gill said: “White Rock is extremely pleased to partner with a visionary group like Thomson Resources.

“They have a clear strategy to unlock the potential from the consolidation of various gold and silver assets in and around our advanced Mt Carrington project in NSW.

“Securing a quality partner to advance Mt Carrington is a key and timely step in White Rock’s strategy to unlock the value in all of our projects.

“The lure of free-carry at Mt Carrington through stages 1, 2 and 3, as well as project management allocation to Thomson, will allow White Rock to focus funds and management time on our two exciting Alaskan projects and on the equally exciting production and exploration opportunities within the high-grade Victorian Walhalla-Woods Point gold belt.”

Joint venture agreement details 

Thomson and White Rock have entered into a binding agreement for a three-stage earn-in and option to joint venture.

The agreement is between Thomson’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Lassiter Resources Pty Ltd, and White Rock’s wholly-owned subsidiary, White Rock (MTC) Pty Ltd.

Payments:

• A$150,000 and 1 million fully paid ordinary shares in Thomson which were paid and issued on signing the initial Term Sheet;
• A$150,000 was paid on signing the definitive Joint Venture Agreement and satisfaction of various conditions to closing (Earn-In Commencement Date);
• A$400,000 on expiration of 12 months from the Earn-In Commencement Date; and
• A$500,000 on earning and electing to take the Stage 2 Interest.

White Rock is free-carried through the earn-in period. 

Thomson will assume management of Mt Carrington and will have sole responsibility for keeping the project in good standing and funding all of the site care and maintenance costs until formation of the joint venture agreement, be that on a 30:70, 51:49 or 70:30 basis.

Thomson is committed to stage-1 of the earn-in including a minimum spend of $500,000 in the first six months of the JVA and making progressive cash payments to White Rock along the way, totalling A$550,000 over the first 18 months.

Mt Carrington has existing mineral resources of gold and silver contained in eight near-surface deposits that could be exploited by open pit mining methods, as well as a JORC gold reserve.

Fold Belt Hub and Spoke strategy 

The key projects underpinning this strategy have been aggressively acquired by Thomson in only a four-month period since November 2020.

These projects include the Webbs and Conrad Silver Projects, Mt Carrington Silver-Gold Project and Texas Silver Project, all in northern NSW.

As part of its Fold Belt Hub and Spoke Strategy, Thomson has targeted, in aggregate, in-ground material available to a central processing facility of 100 million ounces of silver equivalent.

Thomson is evaluating whether the consolidated portfolio will allow for a central processing facility and the blending of ores for beneficiation purposes and the critical resource scale to justify the use of processing technologies that are not being considered under currently proposed processing pathways for the individual projects.

Thomson has engaged Brisbane-based metallurgical and process engineering consultants CORE Resources to evaluate the numerous metallurgical studies on these projects and other projects targeted for consolidation, and to confirm potential compatibility of ores and processing options, including the potential for CORE’s world-leading process technologies to optimise processing and recovery of precious, base and technology metals.

Story by ProactiveInvestors