- Silver Bull Resources (SVB) has signed an option agreement with privately-held Copperbelt AG to wholly acquire the Beskauga Project in Kazakhstan
- Under the terms of the staged agreement, Silver Bull will assume C$19.8 million in exploration expenses over four years as well as other certain cash payments
- Copperbelt may also be eligible to receive a further $42.24 million upon Silver Bull completing a Bankable Feasibility Study with a resource of up to 10 million gold-equivalent ounces
- Kazakhstan recently adopted a new mining code based on the model currently used in Western Australia
- Silver Bull Resources (SVB) is currently up 24 per cent and is trading at 16 cents per share
Silver Bull Resources (SVB) has signed an option agreement with privately-held Copperbelt AG to wholly acquire the Beskauga Project in Kazakhstan.
Under the terms of the staged option agreement, Silver Bull may acquire the copper-gold project, which sits to the northeast of the country, through various cash payments.
The company has already paid Copperbelt an initial amount of approximately C$39,600 having signed the agreement, with a further $52,800 to be paid upon the completion of due diligence requirements.
Silver Bull has a period of 60 days in which to complete this next phase, which will begin once the company achieves access to the property in line with ongoing COVID-19 travel restrictions.
Following this, Silver Bull will assume roughly $19.8 million in exploration and other project-related expenses over a period of four years. This will be comprised of $2.64 million in year one, $3.96 million in year two, and $6.6 million in years three and four.
After completing the exploration expenditures within the given timeframe, Silver Bull will be eligible to acquire the Beskauga Project for a cash payment of $19.8 million.
In addition, Copperbelt may receive a further payment worth $42.24 million upon Silver Bull’s completion of a Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS) outlining a resource of up to 10 million gold-equivalent ounces on the main Beskauga prospect, as well as a five-million-ounce resource at a secondary prospect.
20 per cent of this bonus is payable within 60 days of publishing the BFS, while the remaining 80 per cent will be payable upon the commencement of mine construction. Silver Bull has the option to pay up to half of the $42.24 million in common shares.
Tim Barry, President and CEO of Silver Bull Resource, said he believes the Beskauga copper-gold project represents one of the best exploration opportunities in the world.
“The high quality work that has been completed on the project to date indicates Beskauga is a huge mineralizing system that has considerable upside that has yet to be explored.
“We will be working closely with our partners from Copperbelt to quickly and efficiently explore these areas,” he added.
Tim also noted substantial changes that were made to Kazakhstan’s mining laws which took effect on June 29, 2018.
The country adopted a new mining code titled Code on Surface and Subsoil Use, which is based on the model currently used in Western Australia and outlines a move from a contractual regime to a licensing regime for solid minerals – with the exception of uranium.
Silver Bull Resources (SVB) is currently up 24 per cent and is trading at 16 cents per share at 3:11pm EDT.
