Stockhead | 7 April 2025
Indiana receives final US$30m from Tanzanian settlement
Last year, Indiana Resources reached a monumental milestone after the Tanzanian Government agreed to pay US$90m ($137m) as settlement for its unlawful expropriation of the Ntaka Hill nickel sulphide project.
The figure represents 82.5% of the original US$109m awarded by the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, which had ruled that Ntaka Hill – an advanced, development-ready asset with a JORC resource of 56.2Mt at 0.63% nickel, 0.14% copper and 0.02% cobalt – was unlawfully expropriated.
The claimant group, of which Indiana Resources (ASX:IDA) is a major shareholder, has now received the final tranche payment of US$30m from the country.
Indiana has applied for an Australian Taxation Office ruling to make a payment to shareholders as a capital return, with the maximum amount of A$32.4m. It is targeting a return to shareholders before June 30, 2025, with details of the amount and timeline to be confirmed.
Settlement dispute pending
Meanwhile, a regional office of Tanzania’s revenue authority has alleged that NNL owes taxes to the country in respect of the settlement amount – which IDA denies and says breaches its rights under the settlement deed.
A dispute has also arisen between shareholders of one of the claimants, NNHL, concerning the distribution of settlement funds.
IDA will update shareholders on the arbitration process as details are confirmed, with a portion (18%) of the settlement proceeds received preserved pending resolution of the dispute.
Promising gold, REE and titanium at Minos
IDA is focused on exploration at the Minos gold deposit within its Central Gawler Craton exploration project in South Australia, which has yielded drill hits with grades of up to 38m at 6.54 g/t gold and 21m at 8.43 g/t gold.
The project sits between the historical gold mining centres of Tunkillia and Tarcoola, and is already prospective for gold with up to 45.8g/t reported from RC drilling.
The company also recently found titanium source rocks at Carne prospect within the project, which sits around 20km from Petratherm’s Rosewood titanium deposit.
Titanium dioxide feedstocks are seeing growing demand from technology and defence applications such as electric vehicles, battery storage, wind turbines and as a steel alloy and even in pigments.
Looking ahead, permitting is underway at Carne in advance of 2025 field activities with follow-up gold drilling at Minos now a high priority.
