Deals in brief

Battery Minerals to acquire remaining stake in Gippsland Prospecting

Australian firm Battery Minerals has signed a binding agreement to acquire the remaining 33% of Gippsland Prospecting, which has sole right to apply for a highly-prospective exploration licence adjacent to Stavely Minerals’ copper-gold project in Victoria.

Earlier this month, Battery Minerals signed a binding agreement to purchase a 67% stake in Gippsland Prospecting.

The company will acquire the remaining stake from shareholder Aleksandra Bukacheva.

With this acquisition, Battery Minerals will have sole right to apply for an exploration licence for the copper-gold project next to Stavely’s Thursday’s Gossan copper-gold project.

The total consideration payable by Battery Minerals under the sale agreement is a cash payment of A$165,000 ($102,013) and the issue of 144,990,070 shares.

Under the terms of the binding agreement, Gippsland Prospecting directors and exploration geologists Kent Balas and Darryl Clark will become Battery Minerals directors.

Finalisation of the acquisition is, however, dependent on Battery Minerals shareholders’ approval.

The sale completion is also conditional upon the receipt of written confirmation from the Victorian state government that the tenement has been granted.

Battery Minerals chairman David Flanagan said: “Battery Minerals shareholders will have increased exposure to what is a highly prospective project with outstanding geological merit while the simplified ownership structure will assist with implementing an aggressive and flexible exploration program.”

In November 2017, Battery Minerals signed a memorandum of understanding with Chinese firm Qingdao Guangxing Electronic Materials to execute offtake agreements and develop an international product marketing strategy.

Magna Gold to acquire San Francisco mine in Mexico

Mexican mineral exploration company Magna Gold has announced that it has entered into a definitive purchase agreement with Timmins GoldCorp Mexico, a subsidiary of Alio Gold, to acquire the San Francisco mine in Sonora, Mexico.

Mineral exploration firm Oroco completes Altamura Copper acquisition

Canadian mineral exploration firm Oroco has completed its acquisition of the balance of ownership of Altamura Copper.

Oroco now owns a 100% stake in Altamura and has outright control of the Santo Tomás porphyry copper project in north-western Mexico.

Rolls-Royce and ASI sign MoU to optimise engines for autonomous mining

Rolls-Royce has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with ASI Mining to offer autonomous-compatible, Mobius-ready MTU engine solutions for equipment across a wider range of mining applications.

ASI Mining has agreed to ensure the compatibility of MTU engines and ASI’s Mobius command and control software for autonomous vehicles.

Equinox Gold and Leagold Mining complete merger deal

Equinox Gold and Leagold Mining have announced the completion of their merger creating a gold producing firm operating entirely in the Americas.

Announced in December last year, the deal adds Leagold’s four mines in Mexico and Brazil to Equinox’ portfolio comprising two mines in the US and one in Brazil.

In January this year, Equinox Gold and Leagold Mining announced that their shareholders had approved the merger, which will create a gold mining firm having a market cap of over $1.75bn.

Under the C$769.3m (approximately $584m) approved deal, Leagold shareholders are supposed to receive 0.331 of an Equinox common share for each Leagold share held and will own 45% of the combined entity.