Hancock Prospecting’s subsidiary Hancock Magnetite has entered into an agreement with its Mt Bevan joint venture (JV) partners.
The Mt Bevan iron ore project is a JV with Hancock Magnetite, Legacy Iron and Hawthorn Resources. It is located 250 kilometres north of Kalgoorlie and 100 kilometres west of Leonora in the central Yilgarn region of Western Australia.
The new agreement between the three companies concerns Hancock Magnetite acquiring an initial 7.5 per cent interest in all minerals, including magnetite, through a strategic tenement in the Yilgarn which is prospective for lithium.
It also includes an initial $4 million payment for a 7.5 per cent interest in the non-iron ore rights, including lithium, as well as a new unincorporated JV for the exploitation of the non-iron ore rights.
Hancock Prospecting said that the acquisition builds upon previous work assessing lithium, nickel and copper potential on the Mt Bevan tenement, as well as ongoing development of a pre-feasibility study for the iron ore magnetite JV.
Through the new JV, Hancock Magnetite will act as the manager and it has the right to earn up to a further 43.5 per cent in interest, bringing its total interest to 51 per cent.
Hancock chief executive officer group projects Sanjiv Manchanda reacted to the news.
“This agreement expands the commercial relations between Hancock, Legacy Iron and Hawthorn to now include other minerals including lithium,” Manchanda said.
“This work will draw on the significant expertise that is now being assembled at HanRoy which has a mandate to lead the study, design, and development of a globally significant pipeline of projects.”
The new agreement comes as Hancock Prospecting executive chairman Gina Rinehart was recently crowned Western Australian of the Year.