BHP and Centurion form JV in Utah

..LCenturion Mines (NASDAQ) has signed a joint-venture agreement with BHP Minerals, a division of BHP (NYSE), for a project in the West Tintic mining district, 70 miles southwest of Salt Lake City, Utah. The 12,000-acre land position is centred around the Little Bingham porphyry deposit, a low-grade copper-molybdenum occurrence.

BHP can earn a 75% interest in the project by paying all costs through to a positive feasibility study, in addition to making periodic cash payments to Centurion. Centurion can maintain a working interest by paying 25% of costs, or convert it to a 15% net profit royalty, with all costs paid by BHP.

BHP has already begun geophysical work on the property, its primary objective being the location of significant copper-gold mineralization adjacent to the Little Bingham deposit.