Antipa Minerals Limited (ASX: AZY) (Antipa or the Company) is pleased to advise that Rio Tinto, by sole funding $11 million of exploration expenditure on the Company's Citadel Project, has earned an initial 51% interest in the Citadel Project and a joint venture between Rio Tinto and Antipa has now been formed.
The Citadel Project comprises a 1,330km2 tenement package located in the prospective Paterson Province in northern Western Australia, 80km north of Newcrest's Telfer gold copper silver mine and 5km east of Rio Tinto's Winu copper gold silver deposit. The Citadel Project hosts a global Mineral Resource of 63.8Mt at 0.8g/t gold and 0.2% copper for 1.6Moz gold and 127kt copper.
In accordance with the terms of the Citadel Project Farm-in Agreement, Rio Tinto has now assumed operatorship of the Citadel Joint Venture and has until 30 January 2020 to elect whether to sole fund an additional $14 million of exploration expenditure within 3 years to increase its interest in the Citadel Joint Venture to 65%.
Subject to Rio Tinto earning the 65% interest and Antipa then not electing to contribute to expenditure to maintain its 65% interest, Rio Tinto also has the ability to earn up to a 75% interest in the Citadel Joint Venture by sole funding a further $35 million within a further 3 years.
Contact:
Roger Mason
Tel: +61 (0)8 9481 1103
About Antipa Minerals
Antipa is a mineral exploration company focused on the Paterson Province in north-west Western Australia, home to Newcrest Mining's world-class Telfer gold mine, Rio Tinto's recent Winu copper discovery and other significant mineral deposits. Having first entered the Paterson in 2011 when it was a less sought-after exploration address, the Company has used its early mover advantage to build an enviable tenement holding of approximately 5,660km2 , including the 1,330km2 Citadel Project that is subject to a Farm-in and Joint Venture Agreement with Rio Tinto. Under the terms of the Farm-in and Joint Venture Agreement, Rio Tinto can fund up to $60 million of exploration expenditure to earn up to a 75% interest in Antipa's Citadel Project. Unlike certain parts of the Paterson where cover can extend to kilometres, making for difficult exploration, the Company's tenements feature relatively shallow cover: approximately 80% are under less than 80 metres. The Citadel Project lies within 5km of the Winu discovery and contains a Mineral Resource of 1.64 million ounces of gold and 128,000 tonnes of copper spread across two deposits, Calibre and Magnum. The Company has also established a Mineral Resource on its 100%-owned tenements, known as the North Telfer and Paterson Projects, with the Minyari, WACA, Tim's Dome and Chicken Ranch deposits containing 827,000 ounces of gold and 26,000 tonnes of copper. Extensive drilling is planned for 2019 across Antipa's Paterson tenements as the company pursues a dual strategy of targeting tier-one greenfields discoveries and growing its existing resources through brownfields exploration.
Forward-Looking Statements
This document may include forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements concerning Antipa Mineral Ltd's planned exploration programme and other statements that are not historical facts. When used in this document, the words such as 'could,' 'plan,' 'estimate,' 'expect,' 'intend,' 'may,' 'potential,' 'should,' and similar expressions are forward-looking statements. Although Antipa Minerals Ltd believes that its expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties and no assurance can be given that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements.
ANTIPA MINERALS LIMITED 
