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Caldwell recasting Cascabel and SolGold
Six months into arguably one of the highest profile junior developer turnaround jobs around, SolGold (LSE:SOLG) CEO Scott Caldwell is brimming with excitement, not just for the arepas accompanying his morning coffee following his relocation to Quito in Ecuador. Caldwell was brought in to fix a litany of fractious relationships, temper and refocus expectations and fix a number of other issues that had almost made SolGold untouchable despite owning a deposit endowed with one of the greatest mineral endowments in the Andes.
One of the criticisms of Cornerstone Capital Resources’, the company SOLG merged with in February and which previously shared ownership of Cascabel, was that it was being run as a large company when it wasn’t one. Caldwell’s first task has been to restructure the company and make it fit for purpose. “Our number one focus was to optimise the organisation under the goal of reducing costs, and improving efficiencies. We had key groups spread all over the world, from Brisbane, Australia, London, and, of course, here in Quito. We are trying to move as many activities in country [Ecuador] as we can. I moved to Quito and probably spend 80% of my time in country. We have been successful in dramatically reducing our costs over the last six months, and with our available cash balance of US$46M at the end of March, we'll definitely be able to carry that well into 2024,” said Caldwell.
With country factors being one of the biggest risk to the development of any project, Caldwell believes the only way you can manage it is to be there. In this, he has taken inspiration from Ron Hochstein, chief executive of Ecuador’s development success story, Lundin Gold (TSX:LUG) and its Fruta del Norte project. “At PDAC this year [the Prospectors and Developers Association Conference in Toronto, Canada in March] Ron spoke at the memorial for Lukas Lundin and told the story of when they were marketing in London during the early days of the company. He said a potential investor asked what makes them any different from Kinross Gold (TSX:K) to which Lukas said ‘Ron's moving to Ecuador’, which was the first time Ron had heard about it. That is when I said it is the right thing to do and I made the decision to move. The person in this position needs to be in Ecuador to be involved in the day-to-day decisions and the political situation,” said Caldwell.
The current political situation in Ecuador, where president Guillermo Lasso has called for new elections to escape corruption charges, makes Caldwell’s relocation a prudent decision. “Based on historical development of the mining sector, both Lundin Gold and Mirador were permitted, developed and built under previous regimes that were, more liberal or more left-leaning than the current president. I think the responsible mining of renewable energy required minerals like copper is the future of Ecuador and that we will have the support of whomever is ruling. Responsible mining has a place in Ecuador's future and we are going to do what we need to do,” said Caldwell.
A key task is to continue advancing discussions with the government about obtaining an investment protection agreement and amending the company’s current investment protection agreement to reflect development and exploitation. “We are in discussions on both of those and we would like to get those successfully negotiated by the end of the year,” said Caldwell.
It is not just Caldwell who has relocated. The accounting and IT functions will be done in the country as well as other functions, including the engineering on the feasibility study, once that resumes. “There are tax savings and it is good for the country to be spending those dollars here. We are going to ensure that when we resume the feasibility work, we are going to put it out for bid and ask that the work is done in Ecuador. Obviously, some specialists would have to be imported, but we would make sure the work was done here in country rather than offshore. It really is emulating what Lundin Gold did,” said Caldwell.
While progress has been swift, with the initial focus being a business restructuring to reduce costs and improve efficiencies, Caldwell and his team are now moving onto the most important nut to crack: how to profitably develop Cascabel.
Development
The SolGold under Caldwell will be a very different beast than the SolGold under his predecessor Darryl Cuzzubo and company founder Nick Mather before him. Mather had visions of grandeur, such as the company becoming the next BHP, which in addition to perhaps raising the hackles of the company’s biggest shareholder, BHP, saw him aim for the stars with a large block cave development with a 40-60Mtpy throughput and pre-production capital expenditure of US$2.4-2.8B and total capex of $10.1-10.5B , in a 2019 PEA.
Repeated delays to a PFS eroded market confidence in the company. When it eventually came, in April 2022, it featured a more modest 25Mtpy block cave operation to produce an average of 132ktpy Cu, 358koz/y Au & 1Moz/y Ag following pre-production capital expenditure of US$2.7B. First up for Caldwell is an internal study to assess the options, which Caldwell should have ready to present to the board in about three months time. If accepted, engineering work would follow before the company begins to speak publically about it.
“The Cascabel deposit has some very high-grade zones inside that massive deposit. The idea would be to begin the operation by exploiting that high grade, with smaller throughput, lower capital costs and a shorter development schedule, rather than a massive block cave right out in the block. Then expanding over time to where you extract the entire resource. We don't have any numbers yet, but the preliminary indications are pretty positive. [The capex] would be significantly less than the current capital costs,” said Caldwell.
Relationships
Many juniors dream of attracting partners such as BHP and Newcrest Mining. Mather brought them in and then eventually alienated them. He also alienated Cornerstone until the two companies finally merged, but not before Mather had twice failed in hostile takeover attempts and alienated its board and management. Following the merger, Cornerstone changed SOLGs board and picked Caldwell to run the company. Maxit Capital was the largest Cornerstone shareholder and its CEO Bon Singha, was not shy of expressing his low opinion of BHP and Newcrest in their approach to working with SOLG. Caldwell has some bridges to build. “Part of my role is definitely to work with all our stakeholders, including shareholders, and we are trying to get a good working relationship. The relationship with BHP and Newcrest has not been the best at times. Both BHP and Newcrest voted against me on the board, which tells you what they thought about me joining,” said Caldwell.
One relationship that is likely to change anyway is that of Newcrest, following its acquisition by Newmont. However, while Newmont CEO Tom Palmer likes Ecuador and its investment in LUG , but did not mention its investment in SOLG. Newmont would look to realise some $2B in portfolio adjustments following the acquisition leaving some to speculate that SOLG may be a position it would seek to monetise. “I have not spoken to Newmont. I want the dust to settle on the transaction with Newcrest and we will reach out to them when the timing is appropriate. I certainly would encourage anyone to at least look at the asset before they sell the stock, just because of its size and the magnitude,” said Caldwell.
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Exploration News
Collective Mining (TSXV:CNL)
Announced assays from two drill holes within the Apollo porphyry system at its Guayabales project in Caldas, Colombia. Hole 46 was drilled westward from Pad 6 and intersected a long and continuous interval of Au-Ag-Au mineralisation from surface, returning 358m @ 1.52g/t AuEq, extending the strike length of shallow mineralisation, with its dimensions now measuring 160m x 130m. Hole 44 was drilled to the NW from Pad 6 and returned 428.2m @ 1.41g/t AuEq. Visual logging of hole 53 indicates potentially significant zones of mineralisation were encountered along the contact zone in the form of intense sheeted CBM veins. Assays are expected in June. “The visual observations from hole 53 are very exciting as the contact zone hosts an intensity of sheeted CBM veins not observed yet elsewhere at the project,” said executive chair Ari Sussman.
CNL also announced assays from a further three drill holes at Apollo. Highlights included 162.2m @ 2.59g/t Au, 29g/t Ag & 0.56% Cu for 3.9 g/t AuEq from surface in hole 45, the first into the contact zone, whose strike length is now 150m. Hole 48 was drilled to the SW and expanded the footprint of shallow mineralisation, exited the brecciated portion of the Apollo porphyry and continued in a mineralised precursor porphyry unit with a highlight of 114.4m @ 2.38g/t AuEq, increasing the dimensions of the system to 435m strike x 385m width x 915m vertical. Hole 47 drilled to the E returned 307.6m @ 2.53g/t AuEq. “The Contact Zone at the Apollo system continues to intercept impressive high-grade mineralization and, importantly can now be traced over a meaningful strike length,” said Sussman.
Max Resource (TSXV:MAX)
Discovered a Cu-Ag system, called AM7 on one of six new concession applications within the AM District of its Cesar project in Cesar, Colombia. The AM7 mineralised horizon is a tabular body that ranges from 30cm to 2m in width and extends over 1.6km strike. It encompasses five historical open cut Cu workings extending over 700m. The primary Cu mineral is Chalcocite with minor malachite. Rock chip and channel sample results are pending. “AM7 appears to be a significant discovery with potential for multiple stacked mineralised horizons across an impressive strike length. … To date, MAX has identified 21 Cu-Ag through three districts that span over 90km of the Cesar Cu-rich basin," said CEO Brett Matich.
Lundin Gold (TSX:LUG)
Produced 140koz Au in 1Q23 from its Fruta del Norte mine in Ecuador at an AISC of US$728/oz. It ended the quarter with US$210M in cash, having paid down debt, including full repayment of the Au prepay facility of $208M, and dividends to shareholders. "Our strong operating and financial results were achieved while maintaining our outstanding safety record. On the heels of an excellent quarter, the operations team at FDN recently reached the milestone of 4M hours worked without a Lost Time Incident or Medical Aid Incident,” said president & CEO Ron Hochstein.
LUG also reported results from the near-mine and conversion drilling at FDN. Drilling has discovered three new targets: Fruta del Norte South, Bonza Sur and Castillo. Highlights included 41.8m @ 5.16g/t Au in hole 19, including 18m @ 8.56g/t. “These results demonstrate the significant exploration potential of our land package that we have just started to test. The discovery of FDNS, which shows similar characteristics to FDN, and high-grade intercepts drilled at other targets of interest along trend, are evidence of the potential significant Au mineralisation in multiple targets surrounding the FDN deposit. Based on these results, we want to accelerate the delineation of these new exploration opportunities and are therefore planning to increase our near-mine drilling for 2023 from 15,500 to 23,000m while maintaining our regional programme at 12,500m,” said Hochstein.
LUG also reported a GHG emissions (Scopes 1 and 2) intensity of 0.06 tCO2e/oz Au gold produced in 2022 from FDN versus an average for underground mines of 0.42 tCO2e/oz. LUG aims to be carbon neutral by 2030 with respect to its Scope 1 and 2 emissions. "With its incredibly low carbon footprint, FDM continues to prove itself as a worldclass asset,” said Hochstein.
Aris Mining (TSX:ARIS)
Produced 51koz Au from its Segovia Operations in Antioquia, Colombia and the Marmato Upper Mine in Caldas, with 18% of total contained gold sourced from the purchase of mill-feed through partnerships with artisanal and small-scale miners around Segovia. The Segovia Operations processing facility was expanded to 2,000tpd in late 2022, but a small fire caused by a maintenance procedure reduced throughput to 1,785tpd in 1Q23, causing a short lag in production. The required repairs have been completed, and throughput averaged 2,097tpd in April 2023, and the Segovia Operations remain on track to achieve 2023 production guidance of 200-230koz. ARIS also also captured cost reduction opportunities, including reducing G&A expenses to US$2.2M in 1Q23 from $6.1M a year ago. “Our current focus is on completing the final steps for permitting the Marmato Lower Mine expansion project and planning for construction expected to commence in mid-2023. As part of our commitment to building responsible and profitable partnerships with artisanal and small-scale miners in Colombia, we are very proud of a new agreement signed in April 2023 for the Marmato Upper Mine that will include formalisation of about 260 miners,” said CEO Neil Woodyer.
Royal Road Minerals (TSXV:RYR)
Agreed to terminate all agreements governing joint exploration activities and underlying rights with and between Mineros (TSX:MSA) in Nicaragua, Argentina and Colombia. RYR will retain full interest in the Guintär-Niverengo-Margaritas properties in Antioquia, Colombia and MSA will retain full interest in the properties in Nicaragua. RYR and MSA annulled a cooperation agreement concerning MSAs Gualcamayo Au project in San Juan, Argentina.
Antioquia Gold (TSXV:AGD)
Produced 12,845oz Au in 4Q22 from its Cisneros mine in Antioquia, Colombia, an increase of 27% compared with 10,121oz in the prior year period. The plant processed 132kt compared with 114kt a year ago, while Au grade increased to 3.13g/t from 2.87g/t. AGD reported a net loss of US$7.6M for the quarter compared with a loss of $3.5M a year ago and a loss of $8.3M for 2022 compared to $5.6M for 2021. The loss reflects the increase of foreign exchange due to the devaluation of the Colombian Peso, which affects its USD loan.
G2 Goldfields (TSXV:GTWO)
Announced additional assays from ongoing drilling at the Ghanie zone at its Oko Au project in Guyana. Ghanie now has a strike length above 1km. The most recent drill holes include highlights of 27m @ 6.5g/t Au in hole 55 at Ghanie Central, the deepest drill intercept to date in the central portion of the Ghanie, and 10.5m @ 10g/t at Ghanie North. The Ghanie zone is the second significant discovery on the project and lies between the Oko Main Zone where it has a 1.1Moz of resources and Reunion Gold’s (CVE:RGD) Block 4 discovery. G2 intends to release an updated resource estimate for Oko later this year.
Challenger Exploration (ASX:CEL)
Reported results from the next holes in its phase 2 drilling programme in Ecuador, which was designed to allow the reporting of a maiden JORC resource estimate on the GY-A and GY-B anomalies at its El Guayabo Au-Cu project in El Oro, Ecuador. All holes intersected mineralisation, with the results extending the mineralisation on the Main Discovery Zone (GY-A) 400m down dip and confirming that mineralisation is continuous over at least 700m of strike. Highlights included 805.3m @ 0.5g/t Au, 1.6g/t Ag, 0.05% Cu & 4.2ppm Mo for 0.6g/t AuEq in hole 39, including 546.7m @ 0.8 g/t AuEq. GY-C and GY-B appear to be joining to form one continuous zone of mineralisation 700m wide. CEL intended to report a maiden resource during May 2023. “Hole 39 … has opened the potential for the third of the anomalies, GY-C, to make a significant contribution to a resource estimate. Adding to the potential, it appears that GY-B and GY-C join, forming one continuous zone at least 700m wide,” said MD Kris Knauer.
Luminex Resources (TSXV:LR)
Reported drill results from four holes that targeted the Cuyes West structure in Ecuador, with hole 25 also intersecting a new breccia pipe discovery underneath the existing Cuyes open pit resource. LR is allocating more drill holes to the breccia pipe that has displayed long mineralised intercepts. Highlights included 203m @ 1.48g/t AuEq in hole 25, including 33m @ 5.41g/t. Hole 26 returned the highest-grade drill core ever assayed at Cuyes of 1m @ 115.80g/t Au & 220.1g/t Ag for 118.44g/t AuEq. A newly discovered breccia pipe was a blind discovery within 100m of surface.
Soma Gold (TSXV:SOMA)
Produced a record 23koz Au in 2022 from its El Bagre operation in Antioquia, Colombia, a 30% increase from 2021. During 2022, SOMA also built the Cordero mine and a new TSF. “The company is generating free cash flow from operations with aggressive development and exploration projects underway to ensure a long mine life,” said CEO Javier Cordova. The company aims to produce 35-37koz in 2023.
SOMA also acquired exploration properties totalling 11,160 hectares in Antioquia, Colombia to the S of, and contiguous with, its Zara exploration properties. SOMA now controls 60% of a 100km mineralised trend stretching from its Nechi project to Aris Mining’s (TSX:ARIS) Segovia Operations. The Otú Centro properties contain 11 known mineralised quartz vein occurrences with varying amounts of small-scale mining. SOMA paid an initial US$1M with a second payment of $1.1M due in a year. It also assumed $150k in liabilities related to the properties and granted a 2% NSR, one-half of which can be repurchased for $1M. "The acquisition of Otú Centro represents a significant consolidation of the ground within a prolific Colombian gold belt. The property contains numerous Au occurrences that have seen only limited modern exploration. In contrast, the quantity of Au produced from hard rock and alluvial mining operations along this mining belt indicates the prospective trend for discovering significant new Au deposits,” said CEO, Javier Cordova.
Calibre Mining (TSX:CXB)
Announced results from drilling at the past producing Talavera within the Limon Mine Complex in Nicaragua. Highlights included 4.2m @ 10.22g/t Au in hole 4688, including 2m @ 15.25g/t Au. “Talavera is a former underground producer with past production of 800koz of high-grade ore and represents another opportunity to grow our resource base given the multiple high-grade vein sets,” said president & CEO Darren Hall.
CXB also announced drill results from the resource conversion and expansion program within the Eastern Borosi mine complex in Nicaragua. Highlights included 8.5m @ 12.9g/t Au in hole 97, including 1.6m @ 23.30g/t. “Following the successful commencement of a new satellite mining operation from our high-grade Guapinol open pit at Eastern Borosi, today’s results reinforce the potential for discovery and resource expansion within the 176km2 Eastern Borosi land package,” said Hall.
CXB also began ore deliveries from Eastern Borosi to the Libertad processing plant. “I am very pleased with the progress made at the Eastern Borosi mine complex, successfully transforming the exploration district to a production centre. In April we began mining from the high-grade Guapinol open pit with a reserve grade of 6.8 g/t Au and ore deliveries to the Libertad mill commenced mid-May,” said Hall.
Atico Mining (TSXV:ATY)
Posted a net loss of US$500,000 for the March quarter on production of 2.3Mlb Cu & 2,553oz Au at its El Roble mine in Choco, Colombia at a cash cost of $2.20/lb compared with net earnings of $3.9 million a year ago. “Lower grade and throughput than planned for this period impacted our financials for the quarter. The mechanical failures experienced during 4Q22, which carried through to this quarter, have been resolved and we have now moved back into higher-grade zones. These should be reflected in the El Roble production results for the June quarter as we anticipate we will be able to make up for the slow start of the year,” said CEO Fernando Ganosa.
ATY also said exploration in an area of historical mining intercepted new mineralisation and an extension of the main historical massive sulphide body at El Roble. ATY reported results for five diamond holes with highlights of 24.3m @ 3.7% Cu & 8.4g/t Au and 31.8m @ 3.4% Cu & 2.01g/t Au. “This area was mined by operators previous to ATY obtaining control of the mine and continues to increase confidence in our view that additional high-grade Cu & Au mineralisation remains both within the historically defined bodies and beyond the previously outlined mineralised shell. These strong assay results are open at depth and along strike and we will continue the drill programme in this vicinity and into 2H23 at which time the company plans to update the resource estimate,” said Ganoza.
Mako Mining (TSXV:MKO)
Produced 8kAu in the March quarter from its San Albino mine in Nicaragua at a blended grade of 5.32g/t Au & 11koz Ag @ 7.24g/t. It operated at 587tpd milled at 94% availability with 82.5% Au recovery. “The company achieved this milestone of operating at 20% above nameplate capacity with no additional capital requirements. Q1 production was moderately lower than Q4 2022 as the company transitioned from phase 2 to phase 3 Mining of the West Pit. Mining the high-grade phase 3 West Pit commenced at the end of April, and production will be further supplemented as MKO begins mining Las Conchitas later this month. A maiden resource at Las Conchitas is nearing completion and is scheduled to be released in early Q3,” said CEO Akiba Leisman.
MKO also anounced drill results on its La Segoviana concession 17km N of San Albino. Drilling made a new discovery at San Luis with a highlight of 2.1m @ 41.99g/t Au & 28.7g/t Ag within a larger zone of 5m @ 17.99g/t Au & 12.5g/t Ag. “There are very few places in the world where you can sample high-grade gold over tens of kilometers of strike that have not been drilled or explored with modern exploration techniques. The fact that we have discovered similar shallow high-grade Au 17km away from a producing mine, with dozens of high-grade Au occurrences in between, leads us to believe that we have a burgeoning district on our hands,” said senior exploration manager Frank Powell.
C3 Metals (TSXV:CCCM)
Obtained approvals to commence exploration drilling at its Main Ridge project in Jamaica. Main Ridge covers 3,000-hectares and is adjacent to the past-producing Pennants Au mine and W of its Arthurs Seat project. “We now have valid drill permits through at least mid-2027 along a 30km of strike extent where we have identified 16 porphyry and 40 epithermal targets. At Main Ridge, we have identified two separate mineralised structures over 4km either along trend or near the past-producing Pennants,” said president & CEO Dan Symons.
Cordoba Minerals (TSXV:CDB)
Reported assays from ongoing in-fill drilling at the Alacran Cu-Au-Ag project in Cordoba, Colombia. Highlights included 140.9m @ 0.42% Cu, 0.5g/t & 2.71g/t Ag, or 0.7% CuEq, in hole 174. Drilling will focus on the peripheral in-fill areas in the S of Alacran where lower grades are expected, as predicted by the PFS block model. “We continue to see high-grade mineralisation in the N and central parts of Alacran, which could be accessible during the early mining years,” said president & CEO Sarah Armstrong-Montoya.
Orosur Mining (TSXV:OMI)
Said JV partner Minera Monte Águila (MMA), which is a JV between Newmont (NYSE:NEM) and Agnico Eagle Mines (TSX:AEM) advised it has reduced exploration expenditures on the Anza Au project in Antioquia, Colombia and effectively placed it in care and maintenance. As at December 2022, MMA had incurred some US$3.65M in excess qualifying expenditures for phase 1 for a 51% interest in the project.
Solaris Resources (TSX:SLS)
Confirmed the discovery of a second and more intensely mineralised porphyry centre 350m S of the original discovery at Warintza East in Ecuador. Assays from discovery hole 28 are expected within four to six weeks.
Rugby Resources (TSXV:RUG)
Continued reconnaissance field exploration at its Cobrasco Cu project in Choco, Colombia where field evidence indicates the presence of a cluster of mineralised porphyries. Fieldwork discovered strongly mineralised porphyry float samples 2km SE of the drilling area outside the known porphyries. Auger sampling N of the area drilled has extended the Cu-Mo geochemical anomaly. “My team has been continually surprised by the sheer extent of porphyry copper mineralisation evident on surface exposures within the northern tenement block. … The field evidence collected to date points towards the northern Cobrasco tenement hosting an extensive Cu-Mo porphyry complex with multiple porphyries,” said project manager Francisco Montes.
Prudent Minerals (CSE:PRUD)
Filed an independent technical report on its ABE Au project in Antioquia, Colombia, which is under option to Berlin Precious Metals, which is being acquired by PRUD. ABE is adjacent to Romeral Fault system and the Middle Cauca Metallogenic Belt of north central Colombia about 70km S of Medellin. It hosts an exploration target estimated to be up to 6.3Mt with potential grades of 5-15g/t Au based on the size and extent of historical workings, a strike length of 800m of the 1,600m outlined by the coincident NE trending workings, Magnetometer and IP resistivity responses. Soil geochemistry and geophysical programmes were conducted from November 2021 to October 2022. Elevated Au values were returned from sampling, with 131 of the 167 samples collected thus far returning values greater than 1g/t. "PRUD is very pleased to acquire the ABE Au project with the independent technical report outlining an impressive exploration target,” said president Brett Matich.
Corporate News
Cordoba closes strategic JCHX deal
Cordoba Minerals (TSXV:CDB) and JCHX Mining Management closed a US$100M strategic arrangement for the joint-development of the Alacran Cu-Au-Ag project in Cordoba, Colombia. JCHX acquired a 50% of the subsidiary that owns Alacran with the $100M payable in three instalments. The initial instalment of $40M has been paid. The second instalment of $40M is payable at the earliest date upon completion of a FS and the submission of the EIA, but no later than the second anniversary of closing the transaction. The final instalment of $20M is payable once the approval of the EIA is obtained. Should the EIA not be approved by the second anniversary of closing, JCHX will have the option to elect not to complete this instalment, resulting in JCHX being diluted to 40%. The proceeds will be used to continue to advance Alacran, including the FS technical work programme, in-fill drilling and repayment of short-term loans provided by majority shareholder Ivanhoe Electric.
Orea updates Montagne d’Or deal
Orea Mining (TSX:OREA) said a final response from the Canadian government to OREAs permit application regarding acquiring the additional 55.01% interest in the Montagne d’Or project in French Guiana for Nord Gold is pending. Nordgold and the French government extended the deadline to close the acquisition to May 31st. Global Affairs Canada, the department within the Canadian government responsible for matters related to Russian sanctions, received OREAs application, which is before the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs for a final determination.
Lumina gets US$300M Wheaton gold stream
Lumina Gold (TSXV:LUM) entered into a US$300M Au streaming deal with Wheaton Precious Metals (TSX:WPM) for its Cangrejos Au-Ci project in El Oro, Ecuador. The stream initially represents 6.6% of the payable Au produced until 700koz have been delivered, at which point it will reduce to 4.4%. WPM will pay a production payment of 18% of the spot price for the first 700koz and 22% thereafter. LUM will receive an initial $48M of pre-construction funding and $252M of construction funding, which will form about a quarter of the required construction capital. “This transaction validates the extensive technical work that the LUM has completed on Cangrejos since 2014. It will de-risk the execution of the Cangrejos project and form a significant part of the $1B of required construction capital,” said LUM founder and largest shareholder Ross Beaty. LUM released a PFS in April detailing average production of 371koz/y of Au & 41Mlb/y of Cu for 26 years at an AISC of $671/oz. LUM also reported that it received the first $12M under the agreement.
Mako closes US$6M Sailfish stream
Mako Mining (TSXV:MKO) and Sailfish Royalty (TSXV:FISH) closed a 24-month Ag stream for US$6M. The agreement includes an option to purchase after 12 of the 24-month term of the stream has passed, all subsequent Ag produced from the San Albino mine in Nicaragua or from concessions currently owned by MKO processed through the San Albino processing facility for US$1M. MKO also closed a non-brokered private placement of unsecured convertible debentures for proceeds of $4.1M. Each convertible debenture bears interest at 10%pa, matures 60 months from the date of issuance and is convertible at C$1.35 per share. Wexford purchased $4M of the debentures.
Outcrop raised C$4.5M
Outcrop Silver & Gold (TSXV:OCG) closed a public offering of 18.1M units @ 25c for proceeds of C$4.5M. Each unit is comprised of one share and half a warrant exercisable @ 35c for two years. The proceeds will be used for working capital. Eric Sprott, through 2176423 Ontario, acquired 4M units for $1M, increasing his ownership to 14.2%.
Unigold to raise C$4.3M
Unigold (TSXV:UGD) announced a non-brokered private placement of up to 53.1M units @ 8c for proceeds of up to C$4.3M. Each unit will consist of one share and half a warrant exercisable @ 30c for one year. Proceeds will fund continued exploration and development on the Neita concession in Dominican Republic. UGD also said it closed a first tranche and issued 16M units @ 8c for proceeds of C$1.3M.
Goldsource Mines (CVE :GXS) closed an upsized non-brokered private placement for proceeds of C$2.7M. GXS issued 7.5M units @ 36c. Each unit comprises one share and half a warrant exercisable @ 55c for two years. The proceeds will fund engineering and exploration at the Eagle Mountain Au project in Guyana.
Tempus to raise A$2.5M
Tempus Resources (ASX:TMR) received firm commitments to complete a non-brokered private placement of A$2.5M by issuing 62.5M shares @ 4c and half a warrant.
C3 retains Renmark, raises C$332k
C3 Metals (TSXV CCCM) retained Renmark Financial Communications to strengthen its investor relations activities. Renmark will receive US up to US$9,000/m for seven months.
CCCM also closed the final tranche of a non-brokered private placement by issuing 6.6M shares @ 5c for proceeds of C$332k.
Aurania raises C$103k
Aurania Resources (TSXV:ARU) closed the third and final tranche of a non-brokered private placement. 224,703 units @ 46c were sold under the third tranche for proceeds of C$103k. 9.3M units were sold under the offering for proceeds of $4.3M. Each unit comprises one share and a warrant exercisable @ 75c for three years. ARU used the proceeds of the first and second tranches to pay concession fees and general and administrative expenses. It expects to use proceeds from the third tranche for general working capital.