Barton Gold Holdings (ASX: BGD) has received the green light to proceed with its acquisition of the Wudinna gold project after Cobra Resources shareholders voted in favour of the deal. Barton Gold made a $15 million bid in late June for the 279,000-ounce Wudinna asset, located on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula. Barton Gold is focused on exploring and developing gold projects in South Australia. The company also owns the region’s only gold mill, providing a critical infrastructure advantage.
The overnight approval from Cobra’s UK shareholders grants Barton binding rights to the project’s ownership. According to managing director Alexander Scanlon, Wudinna represents a highly valuable addition to Barton’s South Australian gold platform, now exceeding 2 million ounces. The company anticipates further growth with the pending re-estimation of the Challenger underground mine. Barton intends to evaluate opportunities to integrate Wudinna into its long-term regional development objectives.
Barton believes Wudinna has the potential to add significant future gold ounces to its growing portfolio, complementing the company’s recent silver discovery at Tolmer and ongoing drilling successes at its Tunkillia and Tarcoola gold projects. The Wudinna project includes the Barns, White Tank, Clarke and Baggy Green deposits, hosting a combined 5.8 million tonnes of ore at 1.5 grams per tonne gold.
Both parties will now finalise escrow and orderly market agreements, after which Barton will issue $800,000 worth of shares to Cobra to advance the purchase toward final settlement. Cobra’s shareholders will maintain gold exposure through Barton and its larger regional gold development platform, while both entities focus on their respective areas of interest: gold and rare earths.