"The award of this mining license is a major catalyst towards consolidating this district in what would otherwise be an area of stranded uneconomic ounces with no access to a processing plant," Shanta's CEO Eric Zurrin said.
He said that Porcupine South will become the "central piece" to a district play covering "highly prospective" surrounding prospecting licenses also owned by Shanta.
"Ahead of a near-term first production at Singida due in Q1 2023, New Luika remains the linchpin to our commitment to self-financed growth. Ensuring that the mine-life of our current principal producing asset continues to grow will de-risk our strategy to deliver long-term sustainable returns for shareholders," he said.
The Porcupine South resource area is about 22 kilometres from the New Luika processing plant.
"Existing Shanta owned compliant resources total 114,000oz grading 1.94g/t. Past exploration by third parties in licenses adjacent to Porcupine South has resulted in over 320,000oz of additional NI 43-101 compliant resources including underground potential with NI 43-101 resources of 158,000oz grading 5.0g/t," Zurrin said.
Shanta Gold's share price was GBX9.05 on June 17.
