The Agrimin Ltd (ASX: AMN) share price hasn't moved in early morning trade after the small-cap ASX minerals explorer reported an agreement with S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) mining giant Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX: RIO).
Rio Tinto's share price is up 1.5% at the time of writing.
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What agreement did Agrimin report with Rio Tinto?
In this morning's ASX release, Agrimin revealed that private company Tali had entered into a farm-in and joint venture agreement with Rio Tinto.
Agrimin owns 40% of Tali, a mineral explorer operating in Western Australia.
The agreement enables Rio Tinto to earn a joint venture interest in 5 of Tali's tenements in the West Arunta and Madura regions. Agrimin reported these do not involve any tenements in its Mackay Potash Project.
According to the release, the West Arunta Orogen remains "one of the most under-explored regions in Australia".
Tali has already conducted ground gravity and airborne magnetic surveys over several promising targets in the tenements (conducted in 2019 and 2020). Tali and Rio Tinto are expected to finalise the 2021 exploration plan over the next few weeks.
Commenting on the agreement, Mark Savich, Agrimin's CEO, said:
It is pleasing to see a major mining company such as Rio Tinto commit to exploring on Kiwirrkurra lands within the West Arunta region through its farm-in agreement with Tali. We look forward to the commencement of their exploration as well as the prospect of new opportunities being created for the Kiwirrkurra community.
The company is still awaiting native consent to the agreement. Failing native consent Rio Tinto could still terminate the agreement.
Agrimin and Rio share price snapshot
The Agrimin share price has gained strongly over the past 12 months, up 68%. During that time, the Rio Tinto share price gained 52%, while the ASX 200 is up 28%.
Year-to-date Agrimin shares are up 27%, and the Rio Tinto share price is up 2%.
