New Energy Metals Enters Into Options Agreements For Cobalt Projects
(Kitco News) - New Energy Metals Corp. (TSXV:ENRG) has entered into options agreements to acquire a 100% interest in threeadditional cobalt exploration projects in Chile’s past-producing cobaltdistrict, the company announced Wednesday.
“These projects add to the twocobalt acquisitions announce earlier, and provide the company with a strongland position in the prospective San Juan cobalt district in Chile,” said GrandEwing, president and chief executive officer of New Energy Metals. “We view thepotential for the discovery of primary cobalt deposits on the projects as verygood, based on historical records and the fact that only limited explorationhas been conducted in the region in more than 60 years.”
The company said it chose theprojects based on geological characteristics, historic workings, evidence ofmineralization and proximity to past production. The company also said itsinitial exploration will center on historical data, regional mapping andprospecting, and sampling to identify priority areas for follow-up work.Officials said infrastructure is good and the district is 10 kilometers fromtidewater.
The San Juan cobalt districtincludes several mines that produced cobalt and copper for several decades atthe turn of the 20th century. The last closed in the mid 1940s. From 1903 to1944, the district produced some 300,000 tonnes of cobalt ore grading 4%cobalt, plus some copper, New Energy Metals reported.
The options purchase sets out aschedule by which the company can earn a 100% interest in the projects, withcash and share payments. Over a period of up to two years, the cumulativepayments for all of the projects would amount to $2.6 million and 2.4 millionshares.
New Energy Metals completed aninitial public offering in January and closed on $4.37 million financing inFebruary. The principal project is the Cristal copper project in northernChile, for which the company has an option to acquire a 100% interest.
By Allen SykoraFor Kitco News
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