Venus Metals Corporation subsidiary Redscope Enterprises will increase its net smelter royalty from the Youanmi Gold Mining leases to one per cent after signing a deal with St Claire Resources.
Redscope currently holds a 0.7 per cent net smelter royalty for the Youanmi leases that will increase to one per cent following the completion of the deal with St Clair handing over its 0.3 per cent share.
In return, Venus has paid a $50,000 deposit to St Clair and will hand over $450,000 in addition to issuing three million fully paid ordinary shares at a deemed price of 18 cents per share once the agreement is finalised.
Youanmi sits in the central part of the Youanmi greenstone belt, within the Southern Cross province of the Archean Yilgarn Craton. Neighbouring mines include Agnew with its two million ounces and Golden Grove and Kirkalock holding one million ounces each.
The Youanmi mine itself boasts historical production from 1918 through to 1997 for a total of 667,000 ounces going 5.42g/t gold from both open-pit and underground operations. Its total resource currently stands just under 30 million tonnes grading 3.5g/t for 3.2 million ounces of contained gold.
Venus believes the acquisition of the additional royalty share and increasing Redscope’s aggregate royalty over the Youanmi gold leases to one per cent could provide significant value for the company if the gold project goes into production.
Earlier this month Venus and Rox Resources announced they are headed for a mineral resource upgrade at Youanmi after impressive new drill results, including a 4m hit at 14.85 grams per tonne gold from 298m.
The two companies joined forces to acquire the Youanmi gold mine from Oz Youanmi in April 2019 with Rox having the ability to raise its share in the JV from an initial 50 per cent to 70 per cent - a feat it has since achieved. The mine is one of several ventures the two companies share in the Youanmi shear zone.
An extensive exploration campaign throughout 2021 and early last year by the new owners saw big jumps in Youanmi’s resources. Near-surface resource increased by 204,000 ounces to break through the magical one million ounces barrier.
Venus recently revealed it would become a major shareholder in Rox after the companies agreed to consolidate their ownership interests in the greater Youanmi project. Under the latest agreement, Venus will receive 110 million shares in Rox and in return, the latter will pick up Venus’ gold interests in each of their Youanmi JVs. That part of the deal includes 45 per cent in the Youanmi and Currans Find JVs and 50 per cent of the Venus Metals JV.
Importantly, Rox is acquiring the remaining 30 per cent of the OYG JV that includes all mineral interests at the site.
The 3.2-million-ounce project’s schedule has a prefeasibility study targeted for this year and a definitive feasibility study slated for next year, before a final investment decision in 2025.
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By Michael Philipps
