Native Mineral Resources (ASX:NMR) entered into a binding term sheet with Haoma Mining, securing exclusive mining rights to the Podosky gold deposit in northern Queensland.
The strategic agreement grants NMR the sole authority to extract gold and silver from the site for an initial 12-month period.
Under the terms of the deal, NMR will pay Haoma a total of $4 million across three separate instalments to facilitate this immediate access.
The move effectively transitions Podosky from its previous status as a joint venture project into a focused, NMR-led operation.
The company plans to leverage its existing infrastructure by hauling extracted material 75km west to its Blackjack Operations for processing.
Recent drilling campaigns at Podosky have been highly encouraging, confirming historical data and suggesting that the mineralisation is shallow.
With Phase 1 drilling now finalised, NMR is moving at a rapid pace; geological modelling, pit optimisation, and mine design are currently being fast-tracked for completion this month.
NMR expects to commence blasting and mining activities in April.
The aggressive development schedule is being supported by parallel workstreams focused on securing necessary approvals across the company's broader Charters Towers and Podosky assets.
At the time of reporting, Native Mineral Resources' share price was $0.071.