Minnow Ishine International Resources is taking longer than expected to complete an acquisition and has asked the ASX for an extension to its trading suspension.

Ishine (ASX:ISH), which is looking for nickel, cobalt and gold in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia, went into a trading halt on November 24 pending an announcement regarding a potential announcement.

The company has since gone into a voluntary suspension — extended twice — to give it more time to finalise documentation relating to the potential acquisition.

Ishine revealed at the end of October that it had agreed to acquire the Mt Morley gold project from a private seller for a “minor cash payment”, which would be fully funded using the company’s existing cash reserves.

The company had around $541,000 cash in the bank at the end of September and estimated a burn of $110,000 for the December quarter.

Ishine — which is valued at $4.6 million — said in October that it believes the project “fully warrants further investigation” despite the relatively low acquisition cost.

The Mt Morley project comprises one 50 sq km tenement that covers small portions of the Mt Ida greenstone belt in Western Australia.

The Mt Ida district hosts a number of small, generally high-grade gold mines and minor sulphide and laterite-hosted nickel mineralisation.

Ishine is also looking at other potential acquisitions and has been reviewing a number of exploration projects in Australia, Africa, Canada and East European countries.

The company now expects to make an announcement before market open on December 6.

Stockhead could not reach Ishine for comment.