10th Feb 2025 13:21
(Alliance News) - Ormonde Mining PLC on Monday saw its shares climb 17% as it gained full control of its Spanish joint venture, and looks to benefit from rising gold prices.
The natural resources company with assets in Newfoundland and Scotland said its two exploration licences in western Spain, namely Antofagasta and Cueva Negra, have been renewed.
These licences, known as the Zamora licences owing to their location in the Zamora province, have been renewed for a period of three years.
Since 2011, said Ormonde Mining, the licences have been held through its Spanish subsidiary in a joint venture with London-based cybersecurity firm, Shearwater Group PLC. However, it said it has now gained full control of the licences following the signing of an agreement to acquire Shearwater's 51.3% interest in the JV.
Shares in Ormonde surged 17% to 0.17 pence on Monday afternoon on the Aquis exchange in London.
Shearwater previously had business interests in mineral exploration prior to becoming a cybersecurity firm.
Under the agreement, a EUR50,000 consideration will be paid through issuing 5.0 million new Ormonde shares to Shearwater, reflecting a discount to the implied value attributed to the Zamora licences on Ormonde's balance sheet.
Ormonde said it is now looking to realise value from the licences against a backdrop of record high gold prices. It added that independent geological reports confirm the potential of the licences to host "significant gold mineralisation".
Ormonde Executive Chair Brian Timmons said: "Gold is surging, achieving a new record high in February, further highlighting the metal's position as the ultimate safe-haven asset. Against such a backdrop, and with gold prices already having more than doubled in the decade since meaningful work was last completed on these prospective gold licences, getting the licences renewed and returning Ormonde to 100% ownership opens the way for several different value enhancing options to now be considered.
"More broadly, Ormonde has created exceptional investment exposure to gold, with the Zamora Licences and a controlling interest in the Golden Rose project in Newfoundland which is bookended by gold deposits and has attracted exploration funding from a Canadian gold major."
By Christopher Ward, Alliance News reporter
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