Central Iron Ore Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:CIO) has announced the execution of an agreement between Central Iron Ore Ltd and Barrick Limited and Barrick NL to joint venture by way of earn-in into Barrick's Southern Darlot Gold Project area.
Barrick's Darlot gold mine is an underground operation located on the Yandal Greenstone Belt, approximately 680 kilometers northeast of Perth, Western Australia. Ore is treated by conventional carbon-in-leach at the on-site mill. Proven and probable mineral reserves as of December 31, 2009 are estimated at 444,000 ounces of gold.
The Joint Venture tenements are situated south west of Barrick's Darlot gold mine and are contiguous with CIO's current holdings in the area which includes the British King gold mine which is 100% owned and NI43-101 compliant. CIO's current South Darlot regional tenement package comprises some 336km2 of highly prospective country under tenure.
The Agreement outlines the conditions under which CIO may progressively acquire an initial 51% interest, and management of the Joint Venture area, with an option to then increase its interest to 70% should it so choose.
The agreed initial earn-in period is 24 months from the date of execution of the Agreement. The total spend required over this period is AUD$450,000.
In addition to substantially increasing its effective contiguous tenement interests within its South Darlot Gold Project Area (SDGPA), the Agreement gives CIO access to Barrick's extensive project data base and knowledge over the area of the Joint Venture tenements. It consolidates and gives the Company access to a number of known anomalies within the area of the Joint Venture tenements. CIO is hopeful it can and will advance these to the point they might be exploited to the benefit of the Joint Venture parties.
A number of potential inter-company synergies may also exist and which could also be taken advantage of to suit, and result in operational savings and efficiencies for, the Joint Venture parties in regard to any exploration and related activities in and about the general SDGPA.
With the recent advances in expanding its presence in both its Yilgarn Iron Ore Province and SDGPA project areas, CIO believes it now poised to become a substantial participant in the future exploitation and development of resources within these regions. It believes this presence provides a stable and significant platform for the longer term exploration as well as a renewed growth phase for the company.
QUALIFIED PERSON
Mr. Andrew Spinks B.App.Sc, Grad.Dip (Mining), a member of AusIMM, and a consultant geologist, is a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101").
Source: Central Iron Ore Ltd.