PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Ruby miner Mustang Resources has acquired a 65% interest in a new ruby licence that borders its existing Montepuez project, in Mozambique, for 30-million of its own shares and $100 000 in cash.
Artisanal miners are reportedly recovering large, high-quality rubies from the licence area, which is located only 3 km from Mustang’s plant site and its Alpha ruby deposit, and lies adjacent to London-listed Gemfields' licences.
Mustang MD Christiaan Jordaan said on Tuesday that the acquisition of the new licence was another important step in the company’s strategy to become a leading global supplier of rubies.
“We recently achieved our target of tripling the throughput rate on our bulk sampling and we now beat it regularly."
Further, the cutting and polishing of rubies sent to the US earlier this year was well advanced, with Jordaan saying that these near-term sales would enable the company to value its rubies and were a key input into feasibility studies.
Following the completion of environmental permitting on the new mining licence, Mustang will immediately start a prospecting programme to determine a preferred location to open a bulk sample pit. The company can then start processing gravels from the priority areas identified, further enhancing the current bulk sampling programme and ruby sales planned for this year.