Venture Minerals has finalised the sale of the Riley iron ore mine in Tasmania, Australia, to Goldvalley Brown Stone for A$3m ($2.02m).

The deal, which was announced last month, saw Goldvalley Brown Stone acquiring Venture Iron, the entity holding the mine.

This transaction marks a significant step for Venture Minerals, as it aims to bolster its cash reserves and focus on developing its new Jupiter Rare Earth discovery in Western Australia.

Argonaut PCF, acting as advisers, conducted a strategic review of the Riley mine, which has been on care and maintenance since 2021.

This review explored various options, including a restart, joint venture, or outright sale, to offer near-term value for Venture Minerals and its shareholders.

Restarting Riley was ruled out considering a host of factors such as the marginal nature of the project economics, short mine life, and a need for additional capital.

After a competitive process, Venture Minerals concluded that selling the mine was the best option to realise its value.

Venture Minerals managing director Philippa Leggat said: “The independent process to sell the Riley Iron Ore Mine resulted in 45 parties assessing the data, with the bid from Goldvalley representing the best offer for Venture shareholders.

“We are allocating the A$3m we’ve received to advance our Jupiter clay-hosted, rare earth project, and deliver the maiden resource estimate in the fourth quarter of this year.

“Jupiter is a major discovery that was made in under a year, following the completion of 22,000m of drilling over the 40km² geophysical target. Assays have consistently returned record-breaking results with broad widths of high-grade intercepts across the entire area.”

Goldvalley will also work alongside Venture Minerals regarding the transfer of the mine’s governmental approvals. It will replace the bank guarantee held by Mineral Resources Tasmania related to the mine licence.