Antipa Minerals Limited (ASX: AZY) ('Antipa' or 'the Company') is pleased to announce that Rio Tinto Exploration Pty Limited ('Rio Tinto') has elected to proceed with the next stage of its earnin into the Citadel Project which is located immediately adjacent to Rio Tinto's Winu project in the Paterson Province, northern Western Australia.
Rio Tinto recently earned an initial 51% interest in Citadel having sole funded $11 million of exploration expenditure on the 1,330km2 tenement package from October 2015, when the Citadel Project Farm-in Agreement was originally signed with Antipa. The passing of the expenditure milestone triggered the formation of the Citadel joint venture between the two parties.
Under the terms of the Farm-in Agreement, Rio Tinto may spend an additional $14 million to increase its interest in the Citadel joint venture to 65%. Rio Tinto has now notified Antipa that it will move forward into this second stage.
While the original period in which this additional amount was to be spent was three years, the parties have agreed that this will be extended to five years to allow for the orderly completion of exploration activities.
It is anticipated that Rio Tinto will commit to an exploration programme in excess of $2 million in the 2020 calendar year, with field activities currently planned to commence in April.
The proposed 2020 Citadel exploration programme is outlined below, subject to any changes which may be made consequent upon results, field conditions and ongoing review: Induced Polarisation (IP) surveys along favourable structural corridors; Interpretation of the recently completed airborne gravity survey which covered the entire project; Further evaluation of the Calibre gold-copper-silver deposit, including possible drilling; Remodelling of the broader Magnum Dome and selection of additional drill targets targeting high-grade gold-copper mineralisation; Drilling of targets generated from the 2019 exploration programmes and Identification and drill testing of additional greenfield targets based on the airborne gravity and IP surveys.
Antipa Executive Chairman Stephen Power said: 'We are very pleased that Rio Tinto has decided to continue to sole fund exploration on the Citadel tenements and we look forward to extending what has been a very rewarding partnership to date. The Calibre and Magnum resources within Citadel have significant potential for further growth which, together with the regional exploration targets, establishes excellent growth prospects for the Company.'
The Citadel Project is concealed beneath shallow cover, ranging from just 10 to 100m, and hosts a global Mineral Resource of 63.8Mt at 0.8 g/t gold and 0.2% copper for 1.6Moz gold and 127kt copper. The resource is split over two deposits, Calibre (47.7Mt at 0.9 g/t gold and 0.15% copper for 1.3Moz gold and 69,500t copper) and Magnum (16.1Mt at 0.7 g/t gold and 0.37% copper for 339,000oz gold and 57,800t copper), both within 45km of Rio Tinto's Winu copper-gold-silver deposit which Rio Tinto has formally moved from an 'advanced project' to the studies stage.
Subject to Rio Tinto earning the 65% interest in the Citadel Joint Venture and Antipa then electing not to contribute to expenditure to maintain its 35% interest, Rio Tinto has the ability to increase its interest to 75% by sole funding a further $35 million within a further three years.
Contact:
Roger Mason
Tel: +61 (0)8 9481 1103
About Antipa Minerals
Antipa is a mineral exploration company focused on the Paterson Province in north-west Western Australia, home to Newcrest Mining's world-class Telfer gold mine, Rio Tinto's recent Winu copper discovery and other significant mineral deposits. Having first entered the Paterson in 2011 when it was a less sought-after exploration address, the Company has used its early mover advantage to build an enviable tenement holding of approximately 5,660km2 , including the 1,330km2 Citadel Project that is subject to a Farm-in and Joint Venture Agreement with Rio Tinto. Under the terms of the Farm-in and Joint Venture Agreement, Rio Tinto can fund up to $60 million of exploration expenditure to earn up to a 75% interest in Antipa's Citadel Project. Unlike certain parts of the Paterson where cover can extend to kilometres, making for difficult exploration, the Company's tenements feature relatively shallow cover: approximately 80% are under less than 80 metres. The Citadel Project lies within 5km of the Winu discovery and contains a Mineral Resource of 1.64 million ounces of gold and 128,000 tonnes of copper spread across two deposits, Calibre and Magnum. The Company has also established a Mineral Resource on its 100%-owned tenements, known as the North Telfer and Paterson Projects, with the Minyari, WACA, Tim's Dome and Chicken Ranch deposits containing 827,000 ounces of gold and 26,000 tonnes of copper. Extensive drilling is planned for 2019 across Antipa's Paterson tenements as the company pursues a dual strategy of targeting tier-one greenfields discoveries and growing its existing resources through brownfields exploration.
Forward-Looking Statements
This document may include forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements concerning Antipa Mineral Ltd's planned exploration programme and other statements that are not historical facts. When used in this document, the words such as 'could,' 'plan,' 'estimate,' 'expect,' 'intend,' 'may,' 'potential,' 'should,' and similar expressions are forward-looking statements. Although Antipa Minerals Ltd believes that its expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties and no assurance can be given that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements.
ANTIPA MINERALS LIMITED 
