12th Jan 2015 08:39
LONDON (Alliance News) - Aurasian Minerals PLC shares dropped in early trade on Monday after the company said talks on the sale of its stake in the Wamum project in Papua New Guinea are progressing slowly, and it said its chairman is to step down.
Aurasian is still in talks to sell its interest in the Wamum gold-copper project, but the talks are moving slowly, though the company still expects to sign a deal in the near future. Should a deal go through, it said it would expect any cash consideration to come after the approval of the licence transfer by the Papua New Guinea authorities, some time in the middle of 2015.
The company also said Tony Shearer will step down as chairman as Aurasian moves towards the exploration phase. He will resign from the role once an appropriate replacement is found, Aurasian said. Aurasian said it is also considering whether further changes should be made to the composition and structure of its board and management team.
Elsewhere, the company said its applications for copper, gold and silver mineralisation in Myanmar have been registered in the country and that no other company can lodge an application which overlaps with what Aurasian has specified. The company said it is in talks with local authorities on the applications and also is in talks with local companies which currently hold licences in the country.
Aurasian also said it is in advanced talks on the sale of its interest in one of the properties at the Manus Island project in Papua New Guinea.
Aurasian shares were down 12% to 0.353 pence in early trade on Monday, one of the worst performers in the AIM All-Share.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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