Gold: Two explorers are banding together to look for gold in WA

There’s been some joint-venture (JV) news in the small-cap gold arena to start the week.

The tie-up is between Evolution Mining Limited (ASX:EVN) and Enterprise Metals Limited (ASX:ENT), who will establish an exploration project in the Murchison region of WA.

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In announcing the JV, the two parties described the greenstone gold deposits in the surrounding area as “poorly tested”.

As the bigger player of the two, Evolution will take on the bulk of the capex responsibilities in the early going.

Shares in Evolution were down slightly at $3.65 in morning trade while Enterprise rose to 1.1 cents per share — a gain of 10 per cent.

80/20

Under the terms of the agreement, Evolution will take an 80 per cent interest in the project if it meets certain criteria — starting with a $6 million investment over the next four years.

It will also need to pay $150,000 to Enterprise up-front, which will be welcome addition for the mining minnow which booked no revenue in the six months to December and is in the process of trying to launch a $500,000 capital raise.

To maintain its 80 per cent share of the project, Evolution will pay another $150k to ENT in two years’ time.

“Murchison is a compelling exploration project in a well-endowed gold district. It presents a rare opportunity in which the most prospective areas remain poorly tested under shallow cover.”

The deal marks the latest in a period of increased activity for Evolution, which snapped up a 19.9 per cent stake in WA-based gold producer Tribune Resources (ASX:TBR) at the end of February — a chunk of 11 million shares that were previously confiscated by ASIC due to a breach of disclosure rules.

In other ASX gold news today

Jervois Mining (ASX: JRV) has sold its royalty interest in the Bullabulling project in Kalgoorlie, WA. The company will receive a cash payment of $3.6m from Canada-based Franco Nevada, pending Foreign Investment Review Board approval. JRV expects the transaction to close in May, marking the final sale of the company’s royal portfolio. Along with that announcement, Jervois also went into a 48-hour trading halt this morning.

Shares in Carawine Resources (ASX: CWX) were up almost 10 per cent to 17 cents, following drilling results at its Hill800 project in Victoria.
The company said it had found some of the “highest gold grades returned to date” at its Stringer Zone deposit, which have subsequently increased its width and strike length. “Each hole we drill gives us a better understanding of its size, orientation and grade, defining a wide mineralised envelope containing numerous extremely high gold grades,” MD David Boyd said.

Metal Bank (ASX: MBK) also had some good news this morning, after geochemical soil sampling at its “8-mile” gold project revealed the existence of a 3.6km long gold system near the Mt Rawdon gold mine in Queensland. Shares in MBK rose to 1.1 cents, good enough for a gain of 22 per cent. “The latest intrusion-related gold exploration technology will now be applied to this large system which has not been explored for 23 years,” Metal Bank said.

And Indonesian gold miner Aneka Tambang (ASX: ATM) announced that two board members have now seen out their five-year term and will step down in accordance with the company’s Articles of Association. Board member Robert A. Simunjuntak and operations director Hari Widjajanto will both vacate their positions, and a current director will step into Widjajanto’s role in an interim capacity. Shares in ATM were unchanged at $1.01.