Zijin Mining Group (02899): Norton Gold Fields completes the sale of 100% equity of Bullabulling Gold Pty Ltd.

Zijin Mining Group (02899) announced that on January 1, 2025, its wholly-owned subsidiary Norton Gold Fields Pty Ltd (referred to as "Norton Gold Fields") in Australia signed an agreement with Minerals 260 (listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, stock code: MI6, mainly engaged in mineral resource exploration and evaluation in Western Australia), agreeing that Norton Gold Fields will sell 100% equity of its wholly-owned subsidiary Bullabulling Gold Pty Ltd (referred to as "the target company") to MI6. The transaction consideration includes cash of AUD 156.5 million and AUD 10 million worth of newly issued MI6 shares at zero cost to Norton Gold Fields. As of the date of this announcement, Norton Gold Fields has received cash of AUD 156.5 million and 83.33 million MI6 shares (equivalent to 3.87% of the enlarged share capital of MI6) worth AUD 10 million. The transaction has been formally completed. The target company holds 100% equity in the Bullabulling Gold Mine (referred to as the "BAB project"). As of the end of 2024, the BAB project has a resource of 72 tons of gold, with an average grade of 1.2 grams per ton, according to JORC standards. In September 2014, Norton Gold Fields acquired 100% equity of the target company for approximately USD 25 million and initiated research on heap leaching technology for the low-grade resources of the BAB project. As of now, the research has not yielded the expected results, and the project has not been developed yet. This transaction aligns with the company's strategic plan of focusing on key assets and divesting assets with limited contribution to the overall value of the company, while achieving a good investment return, contributing to the optimization of Norton Gold Fields' asset structure and operational efficiency. As of the end of 2024, the target company's total assets were AUD 40.56 million, with net assets of AUD 10.97 million.