IMX Resources has secured regulatory approvals for its joint venture (JV) agreement with MMG Exploration on the company’s Nachingwea project in Tanzania, East Africa.
The project, which secured approvals from Tanzania, includes the Ntaka Hill nickel sulphide deposit.
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Under the agreement, MMG will spend $60m in three stages over a five year period to earn up to a 60% JV interest in the project.
The approvals encompass the Commissioner for Minerals in the Tanzania Ministry of Energy and Minerals’ consent for the agreement and the approval of stage one of the agreement by the Tanzanian Fair Competition Commission (FCC).
In stage one, MMG would sole-fund $10m on exploration in the next 12 months, to earn its first 15% stake in the JV.
MMG may then elect to sole-fund a further $25m over a further 18 months, to increase its JV interest to 40% in the second stage.
In the third stage, the company could elect to sole-fund a further $25m within 30 months, increasing its stake in the JV to 60%.
MMG and IMX agreed that IMX’s requirement to contribute to costs pertaining to any delays will be limited to $2m for each stage.
The first stage is said to be advanced with assessment of geophysical surveys, soil sampling results and review of the various data sets and historical core that are almost complete.
Following this, targets can be generated for the upcoming drilling programme at Ntaka Hill, which will begin in May.
The project already has a measured and indicated mineral resource of 20.3 million tonnes grading at 0.58% nickel and 0.13% copper for 117,880t of contained nickel, together with inferred mineral resources of 35.9 million tonnes grading at 0.66% nickel and 0.14% copper for 238,500t of contained nickel.
Image: Nachingwea project. Photo: courtesy of IMX Resources.
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