Special Report: Blackstone is looking to unlock the value of its non-core gold assets by spinning them out into a new ASX-listed company, Codrus Minerals.

Codrus will be the new home of the Record Mine, Silver Swan South, Red Gate and Middle Creek projects, allowing the company to develop its flagship Ta Khoa nickel-copper-platinum group elements project in Vietnam.

Blackstone Minerals (ASX:BSX) says the decision to spin off the assets into a separate company was determined to be superior to carrying out an asset level divestment as it enables the transfer of its knowledge of the projects while allowing shareholders to retain exposure to any exploration upside.

“The Codrus spin out will see a dedicated management team focussed on driving value into Blackstone’s non-core assets,” managing director Scott Williamson said.

“Codrus will provide an excellent platform and catalyst for both growth and monetisation of these assets.”

While precise details of the spin-off are still pending, Blackstone intends to retain about 50 per cent of the equity in Codrus while offering its shareholders a priority allocation in the initial public offering.

Non-core gold assets

Silver Swan South comprises one exploration and six prospecting licences covering an area of 38.5sqkm that is just 8km northeast of the +5 million oz Kanowna gold project and on trend with giant Silver Swan nickel sulphide deposit.

Aircore drilling carried out by the company last year intersected gold mineralisation including a 10m hit grading 3.2 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from a depth of 68m and extensive basement geochemical anomalism

Red Gate covers 145.2sqkm and is 10km north of the Porphyry gold mine and 140km northeast of Kalgoorlie.

Historical exploration work has mostly targeted the Porphyry North Prospect where shallow, outcropping mineralisation has been defined.

Middle Creek is adjacent to Millennium Minerals’ Nullagine gold project in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.

The company has been finalising priority targets for drill testing.

Record Mine is a package of tenements in Oregon, US, that the company had picked up in June 2019.

 

This article was developed in collaboration with Blackstone Minerals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

 

Read MoreGold

Featured Companies

You might be interested in