Riversgold Ltd (ASX:RGL) has reduced its “overweight and unsustainable tenement portfolio” in Western Australia and South Australia, drastically cutting annual costs, as part of a strategy that prioritises tenements based on positive exploration results.
The projects remaining as core projects within the rationalised portfolio are Tambourah (lithium), Wodgina East (iron ore and lithium), Andover (lithium, base metals and gold), Northern Zone farm-in (gold), Kurnalpi South (lithium), the Kurnalpi NGM sale deal and the newly announced uranium focused tenure.
Riversgold’s forward strategy is to prioritise its tenement portfolio, based on positive exploration, which will focus its exploration efforts and significantly reduce annual expenditure commitments.
As part of this program, the company has to date:
- Exited all of its South Australian tenements;
- Surrendered or transferred all its Southern Cross and Marvel Loch tenements (with the exception of E77/2418);
- Reduced its extensive tenement holding in the Tambourah/Wodgina area of the Pilbara to five tenements;
- Surrendered seven tenements in the Kurnalpi area and withdrawn from the two tenements that comprised the Alloy JV (Strickland Metals Ltd);
- Exited the Mt Weld farm-in with Corcel PLC;
These actions leave Riversgold with a total of 23 tenements in Western Australia, with a drastically reduced annual expenditure commitment of $1.03 million.
This compares to the interests held in 55 tenements held on December 31, 2023, that required minimum annual expenditure commitments of $2.4 million.
Riversgold continues to review tenure with potential further tenement rationalisation to occur over the next month.
“Not a hoarder of expensive acreage”
Rivergold chairman and CEO David Lenigas said: “Money is hard to come by in these tough capital markets for junior exploration companies and as such RGL is not a hoarder of expensive exploration acreage.
“We have reviewed the prospectivity and commercial aspects of our tenement portfolio and, as per my last comment on this in the December 2023 Quarterly Activities Report, have started a program to slash the tenement portfolio.
"We have already reduced our annual exploration commitments by 57% and have further rationalisation to complete this quarter.
“I would envisage that further tenement rationalisation could see annual expenditure commitments being reduced to around $500,000 and still keeping our core projects protected. We will continue to review new opportunities based on merit and will update the market as appropriate.”