Kazakh gold miner Solidcore Resources will allocate $25 million for exploration at five sites in Japan under a strategic alliance with Canada's Japan Gold Corp. Solidcore could eventually earn up to 80% in individual projects, infohub.kz reports.
According to a company statement dated September 23, Solidcore will finance a three-year exploration program on Japan Gold's properties on the islands of Hokkaido and Kyushu. Upon completion of the first stage, the company can earn 49% in one or more sites, depending on exploration results.
In the second stage, Solidcore can increase its stake to 70% if it funds a preliminary feasibility study. The stake can be raised to 80% after financing a bankable feasibility study. Decisions will be made separately for each site.
At the same time, Solidcore invested an additional $6.85 million in Japan Gold itself. The company acquired 78.8 million securities of the Canadian gold miner and received 18.81% of its common shares. If the acquired warrants are exercised, Solidcore's stake could increase to 19.9%.
Solidcore also secured the right to appoint two members to Japan Gold's board of directors as long as it holds at least 18% of the company. Solidcore adviser Victor Flores and Executive Vice President for Compliance and Corporate Governance Tatyana Chedaeva have already joined the board.
The alliance includes five sites: Hakuryu, Bajo, Mizobe, Ryuo and Aibetsu. They are located in areas of historical gold mining. In particular, the geological structure of Mizobe is similar to the Hishikari deposit, whose resources Japan Gold estimates at 13 million ounces of gold.
Japan Gold is a Canadian exploration company operating in Japan. Its exploration rights portfolio exceeds 3,000 square kilometers. Solidcore is registered at the Astana International Financial Centre and trades on the AIX. The company operates two producing gold mines and the Ertis POX project in Kazakhstan.
Earlier, Solidcore announced plans to return up to $1.2 billion to shareholders through a share buyback. The company intends to purchase up to 102.9 million shares, or about 23.2% of its share capital, at $11.66 per share. Bids are being accepted until October 12, and the buyback must be approved by shareholders at a general meeting on September 30. As of September 1, Solidcore's cash stood at $1.4 billion, with a net cash position of $747 million.
In addition, in August, Solidcore's subsidiary Tin One Mining signed a memorandum to implement a project to build a mining and processing plant at the Syrymbet tin deposit in the North Kazakhstan region. The preliminary investment volume is estimated at no less than 150 billion tenge. The project's implementation depends on approval by Solidcore's board of directors. The facility is expected to create about 800 jobs.