Canadian mining outfit Angkor Gold Corp has secured a deal with Australian-listed gold company Emerald Resources NL for a definitive earn-in agreement on Angkor Gold’s wholly owned Koan Nheak tenement in eastern Cambodia, the company announced late on Wednesday.

Under the agreement, Emerald’s Cambodian subsidiary Renaissance Minerals will sink $2 million into exploration and development of the 189-square-kilometre tenement, and provide a $200,000 cash payment to Angkor Gold, over a two-year period in exchange for a 51 percent participating interest in the Koan Nheak licence.

The agreement includes an option for Emerald to acquire an additional 29 percent participating interest in the licence.