Chinese company Jiangsu Geology and Engineering (SUGEC) will invest Aus$4 million in the Intrusion-Related Gold System exploration program at Sovereign Gold’s tenements in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. The investment will be paid in two amounts before March 31, 2014, when SUGEC will be entitled to a 30% interest in the tenements.
Sovereign Gold is exploring a significant IRGS at the Rocky River-Uralla goldfield near Armidale in northeast NSW, and says SUGEC’s participation will fast track the exploration and resource definition.
SUGEC’s general manager Professor Zhengyou Yu says, “We hope that this cooperation agreement will help to further develop mutual understanding between our two countries. It will assist us in understanding overseas mineral exploration and development, which will promote the development of SUGEC and China’s mining industry.”
Sovereign’s chief executive officer Michael Leu has welcomed the association with SUGEC. “Through this relationship, Sovereign Gold gains access to a wealth of experience. It brings fresh minds into the study of IRGS and will accelerate our exploration activities.”
The company will focus on diamond drilling multiple targets within the tenement, which already hosts the Martins Shaft and Frasers Finds gold-bearing structures.
Recent IRGS discoveries in the Tintina gold province in Alaska-Yukon, which is believed to be an analogous province to the New England fold belt, have been reported in the order of 52 million ounces.