Committee Bay looks south in Matador merger (July 25, 2005)

Vancouver — Nunavut gold explorer Committee Bay Resources (CBR-V) is merging with Australian-focused Matador Exploration (mxn-v) to form a junior mining company with more than 1 million oz. in gold resources in two greenstone belts.

The agreement calls for Committee Bay to issue 0.72 of a share for each Matador share, plus a convertible debenture through which Matador will acquire specific assets in the Coolgardie gold district of Western Australia.

To fund these acquisitions, Committee Bay has lined up $6 million in financing via a brokerage syndicate led by Canaccord Capital. The placement includes both flow-through and non-flow-through units.

The merger creates a company holding advanced-stage gold projects in different regions of the world, thereby allowing year-round exploration.

Committee Bay holds a 45% interest in its namesake gold project, which covers about 6,500 sq. km of the Committee Bay greenstone belt in Nunavut. Joint-venture partner Gold Fields (GFI-N) holds the remainder. The junior inked a deal recently with the gold titan to once again become operator of the project and plans to spend $10 million in exploration over the next two years. At that time, Gold Fields will have a one-time right to convert its interest into 7 million Committee Bay shares, or retain its 55% interest by funding further exploration equivalent to 150% of what Committee Bay spent.

Extensive drilling in 2004 led to an inferred resource calculation of 5.1 million tonnes grading 4 grams gold per tonne or 657,000 oz. contained ounces at the iron formation-hosted Three Bluffs deposit.

Committee Bay recently optioned more than 12,000 sq. km of claims and prospecting permits in the Kivilliq and Kitikmeot regions of Nunavut to Indicator Minerals (IME-V), which can earn a 70% interest in the diamond rights.

Matador Exploration’s primary asset is its operations in Western Australia’s Coolgardie gold district, where it has been active for more than a decade. In early-2005, the company signed an agreement to earn a 50% interest in the Redemption joint venture from Australia’s Austminex (ATX-A), which consists of the past-producing The Mount and Coolgardie gold projects.

The Mount, situated about 85 km south of Barrick Gold’s (ABX-T) and Newmont Mining’s (NEM-N) Golden Mile Superpit at Kalgoorlie, hosts an inferred resource of 2.1 million tonnes grading 5.2 grams gold (350,000 contained ounces) compliant with the Australasian code for reporting of mineral resources and ore reserves, known as JORC.

The Coolgardie project, located about 35 km southwest of the Superpit, has produced more than 2 million oz. gold and has a JORC-compliant indicated and inferred resource of around 17 million tonnes averaging 2.2 grams gold, or 1 million contained ounces, in several deposits.

To earn its 50% interest in the Redemption JV, Matador must fund A$10.75 million in acquisitions and exploration expenditures over three years. The joint venture will also buy the Three Mile Hill 1.2-million-tonne-per-year gold processing plant from Aussie companies Herald Resources (HER-A) and Leviathan Resources (LVR-A).

Matador also owns the Jaurdi Hills gold project, situated about 70 km west of the Superpit, and holds an option on the Bom Jardin gold project in northern Brazil.