Santana Minerals acquires key New Zealand gold lands

Santana Minerals has announced the acquisition of key freehold land and the extinguishment or removal of royalties at its Bendigo-Ophir gold project in New Zealand.

The company has reached an agreement to purchase key portions of Bendigo Station land that are impacted by planned mine developments and infrastructure.

This acquisition, along with the previously announced agreement to acquire Ardgour Station lands, gives Santana freehold ownership of all areas directly affected by the proposed mining operations.

The company will also extinguish a 1.25% net smelter return (NSR) royalty over the first one million ounces of gold produced from the Bendigo lands and a 1% NSR royalty over the Ardgour lands.

These transactions are expected to enhance project economics by improving returns and lowering operating costs.

The lands will be purchased by Santana's wholly owned subsidiary, Matakanui Gold, for a total acquisition cost of NZ$50 million (A$44m).

The settlement is subject to the receipt of project consents and approval by the New Zealand Overseas Investment Office.