PARAMARIBO — The Australian company Critical Resources has entered into an agreement to purchase 90 percent of the Gonini gold project in Suriname. Australian media announced this. This step delivers it to the ASX (the Australian stock exchange,… ed.) listed company equal advantage on. The market responded enthusiastically to the news: Critical’s shares rose by twenty-nine percent immediately after the announcement.
The project, which covers an area of 164 square kilometers, includes two granted exploitation rights in the historic Sara Creek gold mining area. This area has a 150-year history of small-scale and artisanal mining, but – remarkably – there has never been modern, systematic exploration before.
“The location is undeniably top class”
Conditions
Under the terms of the agreement, which focuses on payments at the end of the process, Critical will pay a signing bonus of fifty thousand US dollars. Upon completion, a payment of two hundred thousand US dollars in cash will be made, supplemented with ten million shares of Critical Resources. In addition, staggered cash payments are due to the seller, Gonini Mining Company, over the subsequent four years, totaling US$1.75 million.
Critical has also committed to a minimum exploration expenditure of US$2.5 million over five years. The seller retains a 10 percent interest for which no contribution to costs is required until the decision to commence mining, in addition to a 2 percent royalty on the net proceeds from the smelter (‘net smelter return‘), which can be repurchased by the company.
Area
The Gonini project is located in the Marowijne greenstone belt, an area known for its enormous gold potential. It is located just 66 kilometers from Newmont’s Merian mine (with an estimated resource of 5.1 million ounces) and 8 kilometers from Zijin Mining’s Rosebel mine (5.6 million ounces).
The company emphasizes that the mineralization at those mines is not necessarily indicative of what might be found at Gonini, but the location is undeniably prime. Notably, the Gonini project has already granted exploitation rights, giving the company direct access to exploration, mining, processing and sale of minerals and avoiding the lengthy procedures often required to convert an exploration permit into a mining right.
Critical Resources Managing Director Tim Wither said: “We believe that Gonini Critical Resources provides a rare first-mover position on the ASX: a large, already awarded package of gold concessions in Suriname, at a time when international capital in the mining sector is increasingly recognizing the potential of the Guiana Shield for gold discoveries. This is a gold province with major mines, significant discoveries and increasing strategic investments, but where the level of modern exploration activity is still only a fraction of what elsewhere along the ‘greenstonebelt‘ of the Guiana shield can be seen.”
Increasing interest
Critical Resources’ move to Suriname coincides with a period in which interest in the region is increasing strongly; major international mining companies and strategic investors are increasingly recognizing the potential for gold discoveries in this area. Although Critical may be one of the first companies on the ASX to establish a presence in Suriname, it is following in the footsteps of peers listed on North American stock exchanges. Exploration companies listed in Canada – such as Founders Metals, Miata Metals and Greenheart Gold – have attracted significant strategic capital from mining giants such as Gold Fields and La Mancha after discovering high-quality gold on Surinamese soil.
Small-scale mining has been carried out at the Gonini site in the past, bringing weathered parent rock to the surface. This provides Critical with an immediately useful starting point for exploration. The company wants to start work on site immediately after the deal is completed – which is expected within 90 days.
In addition, the company continues to develop its Mavis Lake lithium project in Canada, which has an estimated resource of eight million tonnes at 1.07 percent lithium oxide. Critical also owns the Halls Peak base metals project in New South Wales, with an estimated resource of 840,000 tonnes at 3.7 percent zinc, 1.5 percent lead and 0.44 percent copper. At the same time, the company is developing a growing portfolio of gold, antimony and tungsten prospects spanning an area of 1,694 square kilometers in New Zealand.
