Barton Gold Holdings (ASX: BGD) is progressing with its proposed $15 million acquisition of the Wudinna gold project in South Australia. Cobra Resources shareholders are scheduled to meet on 24 July to vote on the transaction. Barton Gold is an ASX-listed Australian gold exploration company with a focus on the Gawler Craton in South Australia. The company is dedicated to growing shareholder value through responsible exploration, development, and operation of its gold projects.
If approved, the acquisition will add 279,000 ounces of gold (5.81 million tonnes at 1.5 grams per tonne) to Barton’s portfolio, bringing its total regional gold endowment to 2.14Moz (78.9Mt at 0.85g/t). Barton Gold has already paid Cobra Resources a $50,000 non-refundable deposit and is awaiting the shareholder vote outcome. The company anticipates building on the existing 39% irrevocable undertakings from Cobra shareholders who have pledged to vote in favour of the transaction.
Under the proposed terms, Barton will provide Cobra with an initial consideration of $1 million, which includes the deposit and $150,000 in cash. Additionally, Barton will issue $800,000 worth of its shares to Cobra upon granting of tenements within exploration licence applications 2024/0033, 2024/0034, 2024/0035 and 2024/0036. Further payments include $300,000 in cash and $4.2 million in shares upon title transfer, and up to $9.5 million in contingency payments contingent on achieving certain exploration and production milestones.
The Wudinna project features 22 orogenic gold targets, with grades ranging from 16g/t to 37.4g/t gold outside the current resource of 279,000 ounces. All ounces are located within 200 metres of the surface, positioning the project as a potential low-cost open pit operation. In addition to gold, the project also contains rare earth elements discovered in 2021, with Cobra defining a 41.6Mt rare earth resource estimate by 2023.
