Estrella Resources (ASX: ESR) has entered a binding agreement to divest 100% of its nickel rights across five WA tenements to Astral Resources (ASX: AAR) subsidiary Mandilla Nickel for $3m in shares.
The transaction covers nickel rights and interests across West Kambalda and Spargos in WA’s Eastern Goldfields, currently held by Estrella subsidiary WA Nickel.
The acquisition will remove another third-party interest from the development footprint of Astral’s Mandilla gold project, as the company works to streamline tenure and approvals around the project.
In consideration for the acquisition, Astral will issue 20m fully paid ordinary shares at a deemed price of $.15/share, valuing the transaction at $3m. Half of the shares will be voluntarily escrowed for six months following completion.
The agreement remains subject to conditions including Astral obtaining required shareholder and regulatory approvals.
Estrella’s Spargoville nickel project includes a series of historical operations including the 1A, 5A, 5B and 5D deposits, with the area considered prospective for Kambalda-style nickel mineralisation.
The company mined and processed a 2500t trial parcel of transactional ore at Glencore’s Murrin Murrin operation in 2023, which supported subsequent project development and mine planning studies at the 5A deposit.
Estrella Resources managing director Robert Mencel comments on the transaction.
“We are pleased to reach a binding agreement with Astral Resources which allows Estrella to increase its focus on its flagship tenements in Timor-Leste, while still retaining investment upside from the company’s existing suite of assets,” he said.
Estrella is currently focusing its exploration efforts on its manganese assets in Timor-Leste, where it has discovered mineralisation at seven sites and extracted a 27,000t bulk sample from the Ira Miri deposit for market appraisal.
The company is also assessing the region’s copper and gold potential.
