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Highlights

  • Askari Metals acquires 100% interest in the 1,174km² Nejo Gold Project in Ethiopia’s Arabian-Nubian Shield.

  • Acquisition terms include upfront cash and equity consideration, options, deferred milestone payments, and a capped 1% royalty.

  • Historical exploration results show high-grade gold intercepts across multiple targets, with potential for near-term JORC resource.

Askari Metals Limited (ASX:AS2) has announced the acquisition of the advanced Nejo Gold Project, significantly expanding its footprint in Africa. The acquisition marks a strategic move by the company into the mineral-rich Arabian-Nubian Shield in Central-Western Ethiopia, a region renowned for hosting world-class gold and copper deposits.

Under a binding Share Purchase Agreement with Xingguang Group Limited, Askari will acquire 100% of the issued capital of Xingxu Mining International Investment Co Ltd, a Hong Kong-based entity that owns the Nejo Gold Project. The deal secures Askari full legal and beneficial ownership of the project, in collaboration with experienced local Ethiopian partners who have managed exploration over the past four years.

Transaction Details

As per the agreement, the initial consideration includes:

  • AUD 200,000 in cash

  • AUD 200,000 in fully paid ordinary shares

  • 20 million unlisted options (strike price AUD 0.06, expiry in 3 years)

Deferred payments include:

  • AUD 200,000 in cash and AUD 200,000 in shares contingent on achieving specific JORC (2012) resource milestones

  • AUD 150,000 in cash and AUD 150,000 in shares 12 months post-completion

  • A 1% gross revenue royalty from gold production, capped at AUD 7 million

Project Overview and Geological Setting

The Nejo Gold Project spans approximately 1,174km² along the Tulu Dimtu Shear Belt and is located in the same greenstone belt as the 3.4-million-ounce Kurmuk Mine (Allied Gold, TSX: AAUC) and surrounds the 1.7-million-ounce Tulu Kapi Mine (Kefi Gold + Copper, LSE: KEFI).

Nejo hosts over 60km of prospective strike length with extensive historical exploration data including drilling, trenching, and geochemical sampling. Ten high-priority gold targets have been identified, most of which remain underexplored or untested since early exploration activities.

Notable Historical Gold Intercepts

  • Dina: 7.1m @ 30.3g/t Au (diamond drilling, 2011)

  • Soyoma: 14.2m @ 8.18g/t Au including 2m @ 42.6g/t Au (trenching)

  • Guji: 44m @ 1.7g/t Au, with multiple high-grade intervals and visible gold

  • Kobera: 5.8m @ 8.0g/t Au (trenching, minimal follow-up)

  • Komto 1 & 2: 7m @ 7.27g/t Au (trenching, no follow-up)

  • Yubdo West: 16m @ 3.49g/t Au including 5m @ 5.8g/t Au (RC drilling, 2013)

While the presence of visible gold and historical assays highlight significant potential, Askari cautions that these results have not yet been independently verified and are not to be relied upon as JORC-compliant estimates.

Forward Plans

Askari aims to fast-track the Nejo Project towards a JORC (2012) Mineral Resource Estimate through systematic confirmatory drilling. Data compilation is already underway to define targets for near-term exploration.

AS2 shares were trading over 14% higher at 0.8 cents per share at the time of writing on 8 July 2025.