VRX Silica halted with announcement pending on Muchea mining lease application

VRX Silica Ltd (ASX:VRX) is in trading halt with an announcement pending in relation to a mining lease application for the Muchea Silica Sand Project in Western Australia. The trading halt will remain in place until the beginning of trade on Thursday, October 29, or when an announcement is released to the market, whichever occurs earliest. Shares last traded at 17 cents, a new high of almost two years, and since the market close on October 16 have risen from 12 cents.  Indigenous Land Use agreement Last Friday, the company received notice from the Yamatji Aboriginal Corporation (YMAC) that conclusive registration of the Yamatji Nation Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) was expected that day, in accordance with the terms of the ILUA. The ILUA is an alternative settlement by the West Australian Government of Native Title claims covering a significant portion of land, including the Southern Yamatji People claim covering VRX Silica's Arrowsmith North and Arrowsmith Central silica sand projects. The effect of conclusive registration is that VRX’s mining lease and miscellaneous licence applications for its Arrowsmith projects will be dealt with under the terms of the ILUA and the company expects that the grant of Mining Leases for the Arrowsmith projects is imminent.