Strickland Metals has filled its coffers to the tune of about $61 million after officially completing the sale of its Millrose project near Wiluna to neighbouring gold-mining giant Northern Star Resources.
The deal was struck last month, with Strickland receiving an initial cash deposit of $2 million before getting an additional $39 million in cash and being issued 1.5 million fully-paid ordinary Northern Star shares upon the completion of the sale – which was confirmed today.
The Millrose project sits about 40km east of Northern Star’s more than 10-million-ounce Jundee gold operation in Western Australia’s Northern Goldfields region. The acquisition adds a mineral resource of 6 million tonnes at 1.8 grams per tonne gold for 346,000 ounces to the purchaser’s portfolio.
However, Strickland retains a mineral resource of 5.77 million tonnes at 1.4g/t gold for 257,000 ounces at its nearby Horsewell project that includes about 109,000 ounces at its Dusk til Dawn prospect.
Management says it will now launch new exploration campaigns to advance and upgrade its current portfolio. The company believes its boosted balance sheet will also enable it to consider acquisitions complementary to its existing projects.
The explorer picked up Millrose in 2021 for about $10 million and last year conducted a successful drilling campaign at the site that cost about $16 million, generating about $35 million with the sale of the operation.
Strickland Metals chief executive officer Andrew Bray said: “We now have one of the strongest balance sheets in the junior exploration space, along with a portfolio of very promising, advanced exploration projects. Work is commencing imminently on a number of prospects at the Yandal gold project, as well as at Iroquois and the wider Earaheedy base metal project.”
The company will retain its nearby Horsewell, Yandal East, Baxters and Iroquois projects. It already has plans for a 1500m diamond drill campaign and a 5000m reverse-circulation (RC) drill program at Horsewell.
Iroquois lies north of Wiluna in WA’s Goldfields-Esperance region. The project is 80 per cent-owned by Strickland and the remainder is taken up by Gibb River Diamonds. It is directly along strike from Rumble Resources’ Earaheedy project, which boasts an inferred mineral resource estimate of 94 million tonnes at 3.1 per cent zinc and lead and 4.1g/t silver for 2.2 million tonnes of zinc, 0.7 million tonnes of lead and 12.6 million ounces of contained silver. Strickland controls about 30km of the strike.
In October, management announced it was looking to pursue a demerger of its Iroquois project. However, due to the latest agreement with Northern Star, it has decided to put the demerger on hold and will investigate potential exploration programs at the operation.
With a swag full of cash and several promising projects remaining within its portfolio, the market will be keeping a close eye on Strickland’s next move.
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