A newly inked deal with two partners will help Black Hawk Mining (BHK-T) advance the Manantial Espejo project in southern Argentina to feasibility and, possibly, production.
The agreement allows Silver Standard Resources (SSO-V) and its partner, Global Explorations, to jointly acquire 50% of Black Hawk’s 80% stake in the gold-silver project. Silver Standard, an established presence in Latin America, is in the process of acquiring a majority interest in Global Explorations.
Barrick Gold (ABX-T) holds the remaining interest in Manantial Espejo. However, upon completion of a feasibility study, the major must elect either to sell its 20% stake or increase its holding to 40%.
To acquire their interest, Silver Standard and Global must pay US$1.5 million and spend US$6 million on exploration, in stages, by the end of 2001 (extendable to 2002 under certain conditions).
Situated in Santa Cruz province, Manantial Espejo is reported to host resources (in all categories) totalling 7.9 million tonnes with an average grade of 2.87 grams gold and 191 grams silver per tonne. It is accessible by road and lies about 100 km from the producing Cerro Vanguardia mine. About two-thirds of this resource is contained in the Maria deposit, one of four vein systems drilled to date within a small portion of the project. Maria is still open along strike and at depth, and numerous other vein systems in the project area have yet to be drill-tested.
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