Independence Group NL has agreed to secure up to a 95% joint venture interest in the Southern Hills tenements in Western Australia with three entities owned and controlled by Mark Creasy.

The group of tenements are contiguous to the Nova nickel-copper-cobalt mining lease and cover about 1,100 square kilometers of Fraser Range geology west and southwest of Nova.

Independence Group will pay A$21.0 million, comprising A$5.3 million cash and A$15.7 million in shares, to the Creasy Group within 10 days to earn a 70% managing interest in the Southern Hills tenements.

The company will manage and fund all exploration expenditure through to a feasibility study.

Independence Group intends to drill test a number of previously identified targets at Southern Hills in 2019; an exploration program will also include follow-up ground electromagnetics and additional regional aircore drilling.