(Ecofin Agency) - ASX-listed miner Resolute Mining signed a share swap agreement with Osisko Mining to acquire its 12.9% interest in Kilo Goldmines which holds multiple exploration licences in DR Congo. The purchase will bring at 27.4% the company’s stake in Kilo, after an initial acquisition of 27.4% in Kilo in August 2016.

Under the new agreement, Resolute will purchase through a wholly owned subsidiary, Osisko’s 21,868,000 shares in Kilo Goldmines, by issuing 1,457,867 of its own shares.

“We are pleased to have increased our stake in Kilo at this exciting time. Kilo is about to commence drilling at a range of untested targets in close proximity to their Adumbi prospect in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which forms part of the Somituri project,” says Resolute Mining MD and CEO John Welborn.

In DR Congo, Kilo’s licences cover about 2,417km² in the Kilo-Moto region which holds various gold projects. Among Kilo-operated projects is Somituri in which it detains a 71.25% interest and where was declared a resource of 1.67 million ouces of gold grading 2.5 g/t. The firm is also working on identifying a number of high-potential projects in a 5km radius at the Adumbi project, with as main goal to develop a gold resource base and develop a major multiple-pit mine in the region.

Resolute Mining Ltd is the world’s largest gold producer.

Louis-Nino Kansoun