Bass Metals has signed a farm in agreement with StratMin Global Resources to purchase up to 35% interest in its Loharano mine in Madagascar.
Under the deal, Bass will make an initial investment of around £2m in StratMin’s owned subsidiary Graphmada Mauritius to acquire interest in the mine and processing operations of the company.
Bass will provide the investment in two tranches to acquire an initial interest of 25% in Graphmada.
Based on successful completion of the initial investment by 30 November this year, Bass will be provided an option to acquire further 10% stake in Graphmada by the end of this year.
The deal with Bass is expected to provide StratMin with a cost effective mechanism to access the advanced graphite investor base in Australia.
StratMin will use the fund to optimize work at its Loharano facility, in addition to completing the Detailed Feasibility Study for the expansion of the Mahefadok project through a new mine.
StratMin Global Resources CEO Brett Boynton said: "We are very pleased with the opportunity to partner with Bass in building Graphmada Mauritius and StratMin.
The Loharano graphite project is located in eastern Madagascar, which is around 15km west of the coast and 20km south west of Brickaville that is claimed to include high-quality flaky graphite.
The graphite is said to be found in the form of disseminated graphite flakes within the Proterozoic gneissic host rock.