Sanatana Resources Inc (CVE:STA) said it has received a Letter of Intent (LOI) from the Solomon Islands Ministry of Mining, Energy and Rural Electrification for exclusive negotiations with local landholders to acquire the prospecting and exploration rights to the Sutakiki mineral tenure in the Solomon Islands, which would also involve a joint venture agreement with Cobre Nuevo Exploration.
The company noted that the 188 square kilometre (sq km) Sutakiki mineral tenure is considered prospective for copper-gold porphyry-style mineralization. It is also located directly south of, and borders, the more than four million ounce Au Gold Ridge property, which is targeted for production in mid-2021.
Sanatana Resources president Buddy Doyle said in statement: "Sanatana is successfully increasing its profile in the Solomon Islands and is further expanding its portfolio of potentially high-value properties. We would like to thank the Ministry for granting the LOI and our Solomon based team will shortly be in Honiara to conduct initial access negotiations."
READ: Sanatana Resources on hunt for gold and copper in Ontario and Solomon Islands
The company said that once a surface access agreement has been signed, Sanatana would be granted an exclusive three-year term to prospect and explore the Sutakiki Project.
Should Sanatana acquire the project, there is an agreement in place for a joint venture with Cobre Nuevo Exploration, a private Australian company, in which Cobre Nuevo would provide up to A$14.5 million in funding to Sanatana in order to earn a 92.5% interest in the property.
Sanatana Resources added that in 2011, a joint venture between SolGold and Newmont resulted in a 23-hole drill program being conducted on the Sutakiki mineral tenure, in which one hole intersected 51 metres (m) of 6.52 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 106m hosted in a skarn, which included 10m at 21.10 g/t gold from 113m. Newmont concluded in public documents there was potential for a large porphyry system at depth.
Sanatana currently owns the Tirua copper-gold project, which encompasses 282 sq km in the Solomon Islands north of Australia and includes a prospecting licence over 16km wide caldera set in a world-class and prolific copper-gold mining region.
Contact Sean at sean@proactiveinvestors.com
