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Strategic Minerals PLC on Friday said it has agreed to a 14-day extension for a payment by Axis Mining & Minerals Pty Ltd, which would grant Axis an exclusive call option for the acquisition of the Leigh Creek copper mine in South Australia. The London-based miner with projects in South Australia, the US state of New Mexico, and the UK, in late April, signed a non-binding heads of agreement with Axis to grant Axis the call option to acquire Leigh Creek Copper Mine Pty Ltd, which owns the project. The initial deadline to make the A$100,000, or around £47,700, non-refundable payment had been within 30 days of April 23. Under the call option, which will be exercisable for six months or any longer period agreed between the two companies, Axis may elect to acquire 100% of Leigh Creek for an initial A$1.9 million payment. Strategic Minerals said Axis expects to complete a listing for Leigh Creek on the Australian Securities Exchange, at which time it will issue Strategic Minerals a 19.9% stake in the listed vehicle, up to a maximum value of A$3 million. Axis would also pay an earn-out to Strategic Minerals to the value of A$4 million, to be paid on a half-yearly basis from the beginning of commercial production at the project. Each interim payment would be equivalent to 20% of net free cash flows from the prior period. Shareholders had been advised at the time that there was no certainty that any binding deal will be entered into. ‘The sale of Leigh Creek, if completed, would deliver total consideration of up to A$9 million from a non-core asset and mark a further step in concentrating our focus on the accelerated development of the high-grade Redmoor tungsten-tin-copper project in Cornwall,’ Strategic Minerals Executive Director Mark Burnett said in April. ‘We look forward to working with the purchaser towards its objective of exercising the call option.’ Shares in Strategic Minerals were up 2.5% at 0.29 pence each in London on Friday afternoon. The stock has risen 51% in the past year. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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