Independence Group (IGO) has partnered with junior Buxton Resources to advance its Double Magic-Merlin nickel-copper project in the West Kimberley region, Western Australia.
Buxton acquired Double Magic in 2015 and commenced drilling at the project’s Merlin prospect in July this year, returning up to 40 metres of 1 per cent nickel equivalent from 304 metres of drilling.
Individual assays from this drilling also returned up to 7.26 per cent nickel, 1.73 per cent copper and 11.7 grams per tonne of platinum group elements (platinum and palladium).
IGO announced yesterday that it had subscribed to 20.4 million Buxton ordinary shares at a price of 20 cents per share — equivalent to a 15 per cent stake in the company — to raise around $4 million to advance Buxton’s Merlin and Double Magic prospects.
The 20-cent share price represented a 35.2 per cent premium on Buxton’s 20-day volume weighted average price (VWAP). IGO also has a 24-month option to earn a 70 per cent joint venture interest in the project by spending $8 million over a four-year period.
IGO can also achieve 80 per cent of Buxton’s West Kimberley tenement land outside of the Merlin-Double Magic prospect area if it spends an additional $3 million over a four-year period.
“For the last four years Buxton has technically de-risked a new highly prospective geological province in Western Australia and with the technical and financial support from IGO, exploration success can occur at a far greater pace than what Buxton would achieve on its own,” Buxton managing director Eamon Hannon said.
Buxton is undergoing a period of expansion. It announced earlier this month that it was building on its Kimberley greenfield project area with the acquisition of New World Cobalt’s adjacent West Kimberley project for 1.33 million Buxton shares plus three tranche share payments totalling $1 million.