(Kaieteur News) – Weeks after Canadian mining company Fortuna Mining Corp. entered into a more than US$5 million agreement with a Guyanese company for the Quartzstone Gold Project which covers 296 square kilometres of contiguous mining lands – another Canadian firm, XAU Resources Inc. signed a definitive agreement to acquire the Barbados-incorporated parent company that owns that subsidiary.

This publication reported that Fortuna entered an earn-in agreement with Guyanese company Qstone Inc. for the Quartzstone Project, a 73,143-acre (296 square kilometres) concession. Upon signing the agreement, Fortuna paid Qstone a non-refundable US$5 million cash option premium, marking its entry into Guyana’s mining sector. As per the agreement, the company can earn an initial 51 per cent stake by funding exploration and completing 60,000 metres of drilling within four years, and may increase its interest to 70 per cent by solely funding a feasibility study within three years of exercising the first option and continuing to pay all license fees.

After Fortuna made the announcement, Toronto-based XAU Resources Inc. disclosed that it has entered into a definitive business combination agreement to acquire QS Holdings Inc., a company incorporated under the laws of Barbados.