Base metals explorer North Queensland Metals (NQM) announced today that it is in talks with Newmont Australia to buy its Pajingo gold mine.
NQM was one of a number of companies that submitted a bid for the assets of the mine which is located 35 kilometres south of Charters Towers in north Queensland.
"There can be, however, no guarantee that agreement will be reached on the acquisition or the timeframe for completion of those negotiations," said CEO of NQM John McKinstry.
"Terms and conditions of the proposed transaction with Newmont will be released if and when the transaction documents are finalised and executed."
NQM said an acquisition of this nature would allow it to broaden its asset base.
"The company continues to maintain a program of project generation to identify and evaluate opportunities within North Queensland and elsewhere in Australia whilst remaining focused on the development of the Baal Gammon copper/tin project," it added.
The Pajingo mine has produced more than 2.3 million ounces of gold since 1996, when production started under the ownership of Normandy Mining.
Newmont has managed the project since 2002 following its merger with Normandy.
"The Pajingo project no longer meets Newmont's strategic requirements," NQM said.
Pajingo is an epithermal gold system in a world class gold district, with a number of historic and operating gold mines located within a 100km radius, including Kidston, Mt Leyshon and Charters Towers.
NQM rose by 1 cent to close at 53 cents.
