A pair of private placements will raise $20 million for Aurizon Mines (ARZ-T), which will be used for further exploration and development at the Casa Berardi gold project.
The placements are for 3.3 million shares at $1.50, for gross proceeds of $5 million, and for 8.3 million shares at $1.80 for $15 million. The larger placement consists of flow-through shares, and neither has attached warrants.
Aurizon has a 66,000-metre drilling program scheduled for Casa Berardi in 2005, where it is blocking out new mineralization with the intention of resuming production at the mine in about 18 months. A feasibility study released in January put the probable resource at Casa Berardi’s West Mine at 4.4 million tonnes grading 6.2 grams gold per tonne, and concluded a 150,000-oz.-per-year operation was economic.
Aurizon recently let out a contract to widen a raise to surface in the volcanic rocks north of the Casa Berardi fault, to avoid ground problems that had plagued the operation when it was in production in the 1990s. The raise, which goes to 550 metres depth, will be used as the principal production shaft. The contract provides for sinking the shaft to 810 metres.
The existing raise has a collar and its hoist is now being installed.
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