Australia-based gold miner Alacer Gold has inked a binding agreement with Canadian joint venture partner La Mancha Resources to sell a 49% minority interest in the Frog's Leg Mine for $171m.
The deal also includes an 18-month toll treatment agreement that was announced following the completion of a major strategic review.
Sale of the gold mine located near Kalgoorlie in Western Australia is a part of company’s strategy to axe the non-core assets of its portfolio.
Alacer will distribute $70m of the transaction value to its shareholders as special dividend.
Alacer president and CEO David Quinlivan said remarked that the sale crystallizes full value for Alacer’s non-controlling, minority interest and the cash realized will be used to repay debt and return capital to shareholders
The company has also revised its exploration priorities to focus on potential targets including oxide ore in the Çöpler District, line-of-lode at Higginsville, and SKO, which lies in the very highly endowed Boulder-Lefroy Fault in Western Australia.
"Our focus is to produce the highest-margin ounces available in order to improve total shareholder returns and the measures we are putting in place to contain costs and improve grades across all of our perations should improve Alacer’s operating and financial performance," added Quinlivan.