Australia-based Valor Resources has signed an earn-in agreement with Barrick Gold whereby the latter will have the option to acquire a stake in the Charaque copper-silver exploration project in Peru.
Under the agreement, Barrick will hold a five-year option to acquire a stake of 70% in the property.
In exchange, Barrick will make cash payments totalling $800,000 (C$1.05m) and at least $3m of exploration expenditure at the 60km² property.
Furthermore, Barrick will have the option to earn an additional 10% stake in the property by exercising a second option with a cash payment of $1m.
The company will also solely fund all costs and deliver the project’s pre-feasibility study to Valor Resources.
Located 30km north-east of Valor’s Picha Copper Project, the Charaque Project comprises eight claims that cover an area of around 6,000 hectares.
Since acquiring the Charaque Project, Valor has completed ground reconnaissance exploration work at the property. The company also recently started an extensive soil sampling programme in the project area.
Valor executive chairman George Bauk said: “This is a very exciting outcome for Valor, with the participation of a leading global miner such as Barrick in the Charaque exploration programme demonstrating the enormous discovery potential in this district.
“Barrick already holds land in the area, including tenements immediately adjacent to Charaque, and we look forward to them bringing their significant expertise to lead the exploration programme while Valor retains strong, free-carried exposure to any discoveries.”
Valor expects the latest agreement to allow it to focus on the planned drilling programme of multiple advanced large-scale copper targets at its Picha copper project in the third quarter of this year.
