Location of the Veovaca and Rupice projects. Image: Adriatic Metals.
BY ELIZABETH FABRI
SANDFIRE Resources has become a cornerstone investor in base and precious metals explorer Adriatic Metals, after pouring $2 million into its IPO early May.
The investment will give Sandfire a 7.7 per cent stake and strategic partner status in Adriatic, which owns the Vares project in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Adriatic is now the first ASX-listed company with exposure to the emerging mining scene in the formerly war-torn country.
Its Vares project comprises a historic open-cut zinc/lead/barite and silver mine at Veovaca mined between 1983 and 1987, and the undeveloped Rupice deposit.
Adriatic said it would benefit from Sandfire’s significant technical expertise to fast track the feasibility and development of both Veovaca and Rupice.
Sandfire also has the option to nominate one director to the board as a non-executive director if it increases its interest beyond 10 per cent.
The board is chaired by Independence Group non-executive chairman and industry veteran Peter Bilbe, and led by chief executive Geraint Harris, who has more than 20 years’ experience in the business.
“We welcome Sandfire as a strategic investor and partner of Adriatic as we transition to a publicly listed company,” Mr Harris said.
“Securing a high-quality partner with world leading expertise in the exploration and development of base metals projects is a strong endorsement to the quality and potential of Adriatic’s portfolio following an exhaustive period of due diligence.
“This also validates the prospectivity of our licence areas to host further discoveries as we commence our 2018 exploration program.”
This isn’t the first time Sandfire has invested capital in overseas ventures.
The miner, which operates the Degrussa copper mine in WA, has a 78 per cent interest in Tintina Resources, which is currently securing approvals to develop the Black Butte copper project in Montana, US.
Sandfire also holds an 11 per cent stake in gold and lithium explorer Kingston Resources, which merged with Toronto-listed WCB Resources in 2017.
Kingston Resources is currently advancing the Misima gold project in Papua New Guinea.
