The agreement gives Critical Resources immediate, granted exploitation rights over a 164‑square‑kilometre parcel in the historic Sara Creek gold district, part of the Guiana Shield – a region likened to West Africa’s prolific Birimian gold belts.

Under the terms, the company will also issue 10 million Critical Resources shares and make deferred cash payments totalling US$1.75 million over the next four years to the vendor, N.V. Gonini Mining Company, while the vendor retains a 10% free‑carried interest and a 2% net smelter return royalty that Critical can later buy back.

Critical has committed to spend at least US$2.5 million on exploration over the next five years, a budget that will fund channel‑sampling of exposed pit walls, saprolite and weathered bedrock, followed by geochemistry, trenching and targeted geophysical surveys across the greenstone‑batholith contact.

The Gonini project lies 66 km from Newmont’s 5.1‑million‑ounce Merian mine and 88 km from Zijin Mining’s 5.6‑million‑ounce Rosebel operation, positioning it within a cluster of world‑class gold assets, although Critical cautions that mineralisation at those mines does not guarantee similar results at Gonini.

Managing Director Tim Wither said the deal gives Critical a “rare first‑mover position on the ASX” and provides a foothold in a gold province that is attracting growing strategic investment despite being less explored than other parts of the Guiana Shield.

The transaction comes as the Guiana Shield, which also spans Guyana and French Guiana, gains attention from major miners after North‑American peers such as Founders Metals, Miata Metals and Greenheart Gold secured significant funding following high‑grade discoveries on Surinamese ground.

Critical Resources, which also runs the Mavis Lake lithium project in Canada and holds base‑metal and other gold assets in New South Wales and New Zealand, plans to mobilise its field team within 90 days of finalising the Gonini deal.

Market reaction was immediate: the company’s share price rose to 0.9 cents, its highest turnover in more than three months, reflecting investor optimism about the new tenure and the broader potential of the Guiana Shield.