Randgold Resources has announced plans to cease its joint venture (JV) agreement with Cradle Arc regarding the Kossanto West gold project in Western Mali.
The parties originally signed a JV deal in February 2016 for the potential development of the two exploration licences that make up the project.
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Randgold holds a 65% participating interest in both licences, while the remaining interest is owned by Cradle Arc.
Cradle Arc will now have complete ownership of the two licences following the termination of the JV.
The company’s board continues to have faith in the development as they believe the project to be highly prospective.
Cradle Arc highlighted Ashanti Gold’s acquisition of the Kossanto East gold project in August last year as a recent example of considerable corporate activity in the immediate vicinity.
Cradle Arc CEO Kevin van Wouw said: “Randgold have been an excellent JV partner to Cradle Arc over the past two years and their grassroots regional exploration campaigns have added significantly to our understanding of Kossanto West.
“As a result of the work performed to date, both by Randgold and Cradle Arc, we continue to believe in the prospectivity of Kossanto West and are confident that the extensive gold mineralisation that is present at multiple targets across this expansive 127km² exploration project can be further proven up.
“We will now discuss the best development path with existing and potential partners to continue the exploration work.”
The company intends to find a new partner to continue the exploration and advancement of the licences.
The development will be supported by a comprehensive database of results from the various field activities conducted by Randgold over the past two years.
