Gold miner Exco Resources doesn’t want to develop its Mt Colin copper and gold deposit in Queensland and may sell it.
The miner earlier this year sold its prime asset, the Cloncurry copper project in Queensland, to Xstrata Copper for $175 million, a move that its largest shareholder Ivanhoe Australia deemed as possibly not in the best interest of all shareholders.
Exco undertook the sale so it was well funded for aggressive exploration work at its Hazel Creek copper and goldproject north of Cloncurry, with surplus funds distributed to shareholders.
Exco’s acting chief executive Geoff Laing on Friday said the company sought to realise value in the Mt Colin project in the short- to medium-term.
“Rather than developing it ourselves, we’re looking to transact on the Mt Colin resource … via a sale, as we did with the Cloncurry copper project,” Mr Laing said in a briefing lodged with the Australian Securities Exchange.
Alternatively, Exco could pursue a royalty arrangement as it did in 2009 with CopperChem Ltd for copper sulphide ores at the Great Australia mining lease in Cloncurry, he said.
“This is a significant resource with high grades that would be very attractive to parties looking at Mt Colin for a purchase or royalty arrangement,” Mr Laing said.
