Magnum Mining to divest South African emerald project to URA Holdings

The Australian firm will now focus on advancing its Buena Vista Project in the US for green pig iron production.

Australian firm Mangum Mining and Exploration has signed a deal to sell a 74% interest in the Gravelotte emerald project in South Africa to URA Holdings.

The sale includes Mangum’s wholly owned South African subsidiary Gem Venus Holdings, which owns the majority stake in the project.

According to the deal, URA will acquire the stake in the project by paying $1.5m (A$2m) in cash and issuing £100,000 worth of its shares.

The sale forms part of the Australian firm’s efforts to crystallise value from its non-core assets and focus on advancing its Buena Vista Project, Nevada, US, for green pig iron production.

In a press statement, Mangum Mining and Exploration said: “As the company has previously reported to the market, activities at the Gravelotte Project remain restricted to care and maintenance and desk stop studies due to reduced travel and restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.”

URA will also be responsible for all of the project’s operations costs of the project until it is completed.

Located in the Limpopo Province of South Africa, the Gravelotte Project produced nearly 113 million carats from 1929 to 1982.

In 2018, Magnum Mining conducted a trial mining and processing programme at the Gravelotte project to obtain critical information to assist with the resumption of commercial mining operations.