Avira Resources Limited Announces Initial Exploration on Copper and Gold in Kenya
Posted on : Wednesday, 1st May 2024
Avira Resources (ASX:AVW) has signed an agreement with Goitom Mining to acquire up to an 80% stake in the Meru Copper-Gold Project in central Kenya. Avira describes the geology as a sequence of gneisses, schists, quartzites, and crystalline limestones. A single grab sample from recent on-site fieldwork included 10.32% copper, 4.68 grammes per tonne gold, and 2,090 parts per million nickel. According to the terms of the earn-in agreement, Avira has agreed to pay Goitom US$10,000 (A$15,410) to secure a 90-day due diligence period, accompanied by an upfront payment of US$40,000 contingent on the fulfilment of certain requirements. These requirements include the grant of a prospecting licence, the completion of due diligence procedures, the obtaining of all necessary permits to proceed with the earn-in arrangement, and Avira's completion of a capital raising.
Avira plans to raise $530,000 by issuing about 530 million shares at $0.001 each. These shares will include a one-for-two free attaching option, exercisable at $0.003 until June 30, 2027. Once those parameters are completed, Avira may acquire a 60% stake in Goitom, the owner of the Meru Project, by completing 1km of trenching or drilling operations within 12 months of the initial payment, followed by another 3.5km of drilling within 24 months. A joint venture will then be formed, with each side contributing their appropriate share of costs. The earn-in arrangement, according to Executive Director David Deloub, is in line with Avira's goal of obtaining early-stage exploration properties in the base and battery metals industries. There will be channel sampling along the whole length of the pit, rock chip sampling of any visible outcrops, and soil sampling following the geology's presumed east-west trend. According to a report by Avira, the project's surroundings are "superficially similar" to South Africa's Okiep Copper District, which has generated more than 2 million metric tonnes of copper over the past 150 years.
