KELOWNA, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Jan 26, 2017) -
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Company also Acquires 2.4% Interest in Batovi Project
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Provides update of Blendcore Loan
Diamante Minerals, Inc. (DIMN) ("Diamante" or the "Company"), a natural resources company, today announced amendments to the original agreement (the "Original Agreement") for the Mineracao Batovi project, located in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil as previously disclosed in news releases of the Company dated November 24, 2014 and June 5, 2015.
Pursuant to the amended agreement (the "Amended Agreement"), the joint venture to develop the Mineracao Batovi project will be effected through holdings in Mineracao Batovi Ltda. ("Mineracao") the Brazilian company currently holding the Mato Grosso claims as opposed to through a newly formed joint venture company as originally contemplated. It has also been agreed that the deadline to fund the initial US$1,000,000 in expenses is June 30, 2017. Said funding will result in Diamante acquiring a 17.6% equity interest in Mineracao in circumstances where the full US$1,000,000 is funded (or a pro rata portion thereof in circumstances where only a portion of the US$1,000,000 is funded by the deadline). Further, the period during which Diamante has the right to incur up to an additional US$2,000,000 in expenses to acquire an additional 29% equity interest in Mineracao (or a pro rata portion thereof in circumstances where only a portion of the US$2,000,000 is funded) has been extended by two years to November 20, 2019.
The Amended Agreement also provides for Diamante to have representation on the board of directors of Mineracao which varies depending upon the equity interest in Mineracao held by Diamante, from 2 of 4 directors where the equity interest held is 40% or more to no representation where the equity interest held is less than 10%.
All other terms and conditions of the Original Agreement remain the same.
In a separate transaction with a minority shareholder of Mineracao, Diamante has acquired a 2.4% interest of Mineracao for $30,000. Assuming Diamante fully funds the $3,000,000 in accordance with the terms of the Amended Agreement Diamante would then own a 49% equity interest in Mineracao.
The Company would also like to provide an update on the status of the gold stream agreement from the Molejon Gold Mine in Panama (the "Molejon Mine"), as disclosed in a news release dated February 3, 2016 (the "February 3, 2016 News Release"). Diamante to date has provided $215,000 of the $250,000 loan (the "Loan") to Blendcore LLC., guaranteed by Petaquilla Gold, S.A., which Loan was to be provided in exchange for a royalty on gold produced from the Molejon Mine, as detailed in the February 3, 2016 News Release. These funds were to be used to re-start the processing plant at the Molejon Mine to allow the treatment of stockpiled ore. After advancing the funds to Blendcore LLC, progress has been slow in moving the re-start forward.