Vancouver — On the heels of its initial public offering, Columbus Gold (CGT-V) has lined up Agnico-Eagle Mines (AEM-T, AEM-N) as a joint-venture partner to test its Utah Clipper, Crestview and Laura projects in the Cortez-Pipeline region of Nevada’s Battle Mountain trend.
The mid-tier gold producer will acquire up to a 75% interest in Columbus Gold’s projects through staged earn-ins. Upon spending US$6.5 million within seven years, Agnico-Eagle will hold 51% and form a joint venture. A further 19% can be garnered by completing a feasibility study for mine development and an additional 5% for arranging Columbus Gold’s share of developments costs.
Utah Clipper and Crestview are situated just west of and adjacent to Barrick Gold (ABX-T, ABX-N) and Rio Tinto’s (RTP-N) Pipeline and Gold Acres mining complex. The Laura project is located to the southeast, across Crescent Valley, just west of Barrick’s Cortez Hills deposit.
The primary target at Utah Clipper is the lower-plate carbonaceous sediments below the Roberts Mountain thrust fault. The lower plate rocks are a favourable host rock within the district of both large-tonnage disseminated gold and high-grade vein deposits. The target unit is believed to be overlain by up to several hundred metres of siliceous sediments.
Agnico-Eagle recently closed a US$250-million financing, the bulk of which will be used to complete mine construction at the Lapa gold project in northwestern Quebec and at Kittil, in northern Finland. The company also operates its LaRonde mine in the Abitibi region of Quebec, where it produces about 250,000 oz. gold annually.
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