Mineral exploration company Galileo Mining has announced its farm-in and joint venture with a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chris Ellison-backed Mineral Resources, has been finalised.
Earlier this month, Brad Underwood-led Galileo told the market it intended to divest 30 per cent of lithium rights at its Norseman project tenements to MinRes for a $7.5 million cash consideration package.
Galileo, which will retain project tenement ownership along with all rights to all minerals contained within lithium-bearing pegmatites, will form a 30-70 joint venture with MinRes in respect to lithium exploration, which will now begin.
Mr Underwood said the partnership would bring lithium expertise to the Norseman project.
"MinRes has an incredible depth of experience in the lithium business and have secured the rights to work on our untested lithium potential at Norseman," he said.
"In return Galileo shareholders will benefit from a focused program of lithium exploration while the company continues to concentrate on the extensive potential for nickel, PGEs and gold in the same region."
MinRes can increase its stake in the lithium JV to 55 per cent by sole funding $15 million worth of exploration over four years.
Throughout April and May, Galileo completed around 2,700 metres of reverse circulation drilling, in a bid to determine platinum and palladium mineralisation resulting from geophysical anomalies.
Mr Underwood said the next phase of drilling at Norseman had been earmarked for August.
“Our recent drill results show more prospective palladium and platinum zones within close proximity to geophysical anomalies,” he said.
“Our exploration strategy follows a cyclical pattern with campaign drilling, review and interpretation of results, integration of new information, and then more drilling.
“We believe this cycle of exploration activity gives us the best opportunity of making further discoveries in a fundamentally unexplored tenement package.”
As of 1.56am WST, Galileo shares were down 6 per cent, trading at 25 cents per share.
