Jan 29 2014
GPM Metals Inc. ("GPM") through its wholly owned subsidiary DPG Resources Australia Pty Limited ("DPG") announces that it has entered into, an Earn-In/Joint Venture Agreement with Rio Tinto Exploration Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Rio Tinto Limited ("Rio Tinto"); covering base metal exploration and development rights, in relation to certain granted exploration tenements and tenement applications in McArthur Basin Mining District, Northern Territory, Australia (The "Walker Gossan project").
Rio Tinto and GPM have entered into a definitive Two Stage Earn-In / Joint Venture Agreement granting GPM an initial 51% interest under certain conditions that include;
Stage One
- Payment of A$1,000,000.00 on signing
- Minimum expenditure of A$2,000,000 within 3 years of effective date
- Combined expenditures of A$20,000,000.00 over a 10 year period
- Milestone payments within the combined expenditures as follows:
- A$100,000.00 upon the grant of licences to all of the properties;
- A$1,000,000.00 upon the completion of the first drill hole on the Walker Gossan
- A$4,000,000.00 upon the completion of a JORC Code Compliant resource study that shows an indicated status for minimum 20 million tons of greater than 8% combined lead and zinc, or lead, zinc and silver, within the licenced area or a Decision to Mine being made.
Stage Two
GPM may increase its interest to 75% by completing a Feasibility Study within 3 years of completing Stage One.
Rio Tinto may elect to contribute pursuant to its participating share, not contribute and be diluted or convert its interest into a Net Smelter Return (2.5%) royalty.
There are rights of first refusal on purchase and sale of interest for both parties at fair market value.
GPM will be responsible for all negotiations with the Northern Land Council for consent to issue the exploration licence applications and work programs to be conducted by GPM under its sole rights or as operator.
DESCRIPTION OF PROPERTY
The 166,000 hectare Walker Gossan project is located within the Walker Trough, a package of Middle Proterozoic carbonate sediments, situated in Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Geographical maps and geological setting illustrations are available on the company's web site. (www.gpmmetals.ca/projects/australia).
The primary area of interest is the Walker Gossan. Gossanous outcrops with highly anomalous lead values were discovered by CRA - Conzinc RioTinto of Australia (predecessor to Rio Tinto Limited) in 1970 and a tenement application was made to the Government of the Northern Territory in 1972. An agreement under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act is required prior to grant of the tenement. To date the area has been held under tenement application and no exploration has been undertaken within the 40 years which have followed the discovery of the gossan.
The Walker Trough is part of an extensive Middle Proterozoic carbonate sequence which occurs from South of Mount Isa through to Darwin over an area of approximately 600,000 square kilometres which hosts one of the great metallogenic belts of the world.
The region includes a number of major silver, lead, zinc and copper deposits. These include the Mount Isa, George Fisher and MacArthur River mines owned by Xstrata; the Cannington Silver Mine, regarded as the largest silver mine in the world, owned by BHP; the Century zinc deposit, one of the largest zinc mines in the world and owned by MMG Mining of China; and several other deposits.
The Walker Trough region was identified by the Northern Territory Geological Survey team as being a direct analogy of the Pb-Zn endowed Batten Fault trough which contains the MacArthur River Zinc mine. Further, it was considered the "hottest untested exploration play in The Northern Territory" in a 2004 publication of the Northern Territory Geological Survey. "http://www.nt.gov.au/d/Minerals_Energy/Geoscience/Content/File/Docs/CORE/NTExplnOpportunities.pdf"
Peter Mullens, President, DPG Resources (Australian subsidiary of GPM Metals), states "We are excited to have signed this agreement with Rio Tinto and to partner with them in this project area. The Walker Gossan project has the potential to be a company maker".
The Qualified Person ("Q.P.") for GPM is Mr. Peter Mullens P.Geo, who is a member of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Mr. Mullens has reviewed and approved the contents of this release.