Shares in Katoro Gold PLC (LON:KAT) shined in late-afternoon trading Monday after it acquired the Haneti Nickel project in Tanzania.
The exploration firm said it had purchased the project through an all-share acquisition of Kibo Nickel Limited and Eagle Exploration Limited from their majority shareholder Kibo Energy PLC (LON:KIBO).
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The transaction would involve Katoro issuing around 15.4mln new shares to Kibo at 1.3p each to satisfy the £200,000 deal alongside a royalty agreement to pay Kibo 2% of the proceeds on any sales revenue in respect to nickel and nickel concentrates from the project.
Katoro said the Haneti project was a “highly prospective, high-grade nickel sulphide asset”, with previous samples having identified grades of up to 13.59% nickel, 0.25% cobalt, 78 parts per billion (ppb) gold, 413 ppb platinum, 1930 ppb palladium, and 927 parts per million (ppm) copper alongside “significant” lithium anomalies.
The company added that independent work carried out by Western Geophysics Pty had underlined the potential for “substantial nickel sulphide deposits” at the project.
Katoro said it now intended to implement its own work programme to confirm the prospectivity at Haneti.
Louis Coetzee, Katoro's executive chairman said the project was “an exciting opportunity” given “strong nickel market fundamentals” driven by demand in the electric vehicle and energy storage markets, where it is a primary component in rechargeable batteries.
Katoro shares were up 5.8% at 0.9p, while Kibo shares were up 1.2% at 2p.