Atlas calls off merger talks

A proposed merger between Atlas (NYSE) and three other mining companies has been nixed.

Atlas, which had proposed the merger, informed the three that it no longer wants to proceed. The companies include Granges (TSE), in which Atlas holds a 37.2% interest, Hycroft Resources and Development (TSE) and Dakota Mining (TSE).

In other news, Granges has increased production at the Crofoot-Lewis gold mine in Nevada. The mine is wholly owned by Hycroft which, in turn, is a 50.5%-owned subsidiary of Granges. Production, which is entirely attributable to Granges, amounted to 69,460 oz. gold and 218,719 oz. silver for the first nine months of 1994, compared with 64,891 oz. gold and 200,495 oz. silver for the same period in 1993.

In addition, Granges says reserves can potentially be expanded. Drilling in the south-central pit has confirmed an additional 4.7 million tons of proven and probable ore averaging 0.017 oz. per ton.

This reserve lies within a broader resource of about 12 million tons grading 0.019 oz.

The company is also exploring for precious metals on other properties in Nevada, and in British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario. Granges will drill about 39,000 ft. at the Blackwater-Davidson property in central British Columbia, at Tartan and McBride Lakes in northern Manitoba, at Mishi in northwestern Ontario, and at another property near the Crofoot-Lewis mine.