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Lanthanein eyes up to $3m from PNG gold play sale

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Lanthanein Resources’ interests in Papua New Guinea are set to transfer to fellow WA mineral explorer Tempest Minerals.
Camera IconLanthanein Resources’ interests in Papua New Guinea are set to transfer to fellow WA mineral explorer Tempest Minerals. Credit: File

WA-based Lanthanein Resources’ planned sale of its gold interests in Papua New Guinea has taken a twist after the proposed new owner, PNG-based Lole Mining agreed to a takeover by another WA explorer.

Lanthanein announced in March it had agreed to sell Lole its wholly owned subsidiary, Frontier Copper PNG. Frontier Copper holds an exploration licence surrounding the Tolukuma gold mine, about 70km north of the country’s capital Port Moresby.

Under a binding terms sheet, Lole has agreed to pay Lanthanein $2m, comprising $500,000 cash and a further $1.5 million either in cash or the issue of fully paid ordinary shares in Lole.

Further consideration of $1million is payable to Lanthanein if within five years an aggregate minimum of 500,000 oz of gold of not less than JORC 2012 indicated category of resource is identified on the Tolukuma tenements.

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The additional consideration is to be payable either in cash, shares or a combination of both.

However, last week Perth-based explorer Tempest Minerals told the ASX it had entered into a conditional agreement to acquire Lole for more than $25 million.

Tempest described the agreement as a transformative deal that would catapult the company into a gold developer and producer.

Lanthanein directors have declared they are “buoyed” by the development, whilst noting the acquisition remains subject to the satisfaction of some conditions, including Tempest shareholder approval and completion of a capital raising.

Tolukuma is an historically operated gold and silver producer with more than 1 million ounces of historic gold production under its belt.

Lanthanein changed its name from Frontier Resources in May.

Late last year, Frontier outlined a strike length of more than 750m at its Taula gold vein prospect through a reconnaissance exploration program at Tolukuma.

Previous trenching at the vein returned a 1.2m interval grading an astonishing 1041 grams per tonne gold, with rock chip sampling delivering 118 g/t gold.

Selling the Papua New Guinea interests will allow Lanthanein to focus on its search for rare earths as the company concentrates its efforts on the potential offered by the burgeoning clean energy sector.

Lanthanein has also secured 100 per cent interest in rare earths projects in Murraydium in South Australia and in the Gascoyne, Koolya and Kalgoorlie in WA after its acquisition of Southern Rare Earths.

In late June, the company received the go-ahead for its exploration and rehabilitation programs from the South Australian Government for its Murraydium ionic clay-hosted rare earths project.

The green light triggered Lanthanein’s first drilling program that includes plans for more than 300 air-core holes into its tenure less than 50km from the recent discovery of high-grade rare earths by fellow ASX-listed Australian Rare Earths.

Last week, Lanthanein also announced firm commitments from sophisticated investors to raise $1.75 million before costs via a placement of 125 million shares at an issue price of $0.014 per share.

The subscribers will be offered one free attaching option exercisable at $0.03 expiring 31 December 2024 placement options for every two placement shares.

The funds raised will be used primarily to fund upcoming drilling campaigns at the company’s Gascoyne and the Murraydium rare earths projects.

Clearly, for some explorers, the traditional lure of gold remains the main game. For others such as Lanthanein Resources, the future lies in rare earths.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@wanews.com.au

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