Conroy Gold and Natural Resources, a stock-market-listed Irish company prospecting for gold along the Border, is working on a deal to farm out up to 57.5 per cent of the project to a Turkish miner.
The Irish company has signed a letter of intent to form a joint venture with Demir Export, which has agreed to pay €9 million in two tranches to finance the first two phases of development of the gold prospecting corridor known as the Longford-Down Massif. The 65km stretch includes the company's highly-rated gold prospect at Clontibret in Monaghan.
In return for the €9 million, Demir will gain 40 per cent of the business. It is intended that it would then finance the project in a third phase to "construction-ready" status, for which it would gain a further 17.5 per cent. Conroy, founded by veteran resources investor Richard Conroy, would receive €1 million as soon as the deal is approved, it told investors on Thursday. The joint venture, if it completes, will be known as Project Inis.
Demir Export has the mining expertise and the financial resources not only to bring the Clontibret gold deposit to construction-ready status and into operation as a mine, but also to advance the significant gold potential of the other licences along the gold trend to the same status,” said Mr Conroy.
In addition to announcing the proposed deal with Demir, Conroy Gold also announced the termination of a proposed deal it discussed last year with the miner Anglo Asian.
