Maya Gold & Silver turns to Morocco’s silver and gold riches

Maya Gold & Silver (MYA-V) has its eyes on another past-producing precious-metal mine in Morocco – this time, the Zgounder silver mine in central Morocco’s Anti-Atlas mountains.

The company has not disclosed how much it will pay for the asset, but it did say “the overall budget allocated to the transaction for the first 24 months is $20.5 million.” This will include an initial cash payment, exploration expenditures, infrastructure development and mine-site rehabilitation.

The acquisition means Maya will soon have to raise more money than it has since listing as a Mexico-focused gold explorer in mid-2008.

The purchase is part of five possible acquisitions Maya has been trying to secure since December 2010, all of which are either gold, silver or polymetallic projects in Morocco.

The company optioned its first and main Moroccan property, the Amizmiz gold project, in early 2009. It has since spent more than $6.25 million on the property and plans to spend another $500,000 this year completing sampling, survey work and minor exploration drilling.

The company previously announced plans for a pre-production program at Amizmiz, but has not mentioned the property or the program in a press release recently.

Maya is buying an 85% interest in the Zgounder silver mine from L’Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines, a state-owned company that promotes mining and oil activities in Morocco. Maya secured the purchase through an international tender submitted in March.

Maya says the mine produced 500,000 tonnes of rock grading 330 grams silver per tonne for 5.9 million oz. silver from 1982 to 1990.

Zgounder comes with a processing plant that has been kept on care and maintenance, as well as a historical, non-National Instrument 43-101-compliant mineral resource of 582,000 tonnes grading 361 grams silver and containing 7.5 million oz. silver, assuming a cut-off grade of 150 grams silver.

There are also 500,000 tonnes of surface tailings averaging 125 grams silver, and reports from the previous owner of a newly discovered North zone exhibiting higher silver grades.

Other recent acquisitions by Maya include the past-producing Azegour polymetallic mine, located directly south of the Amizmiz property, which produced molybdenum, copper and tungsten before shutting down in 1971. Maya says the property has never been investigated for gold or silver.

The company also bought for $50,000 a 16-sq.-km mineral claim adjacent to the south of the world-class Imiter silver mine in the eastern Anti-Atlas mountains. According to Guy Goulet, Maya’s Montreal area-based president and CEO, “Historically, the most efficient way to find a mine has been to explore beside an existing mine.”

To help with the search for prospective properties in Morocco, Maya has advanced $1.25 million so far this year to Glowat SARL, a private Moroccan company owned by “a party related to an officer who is also a director of the corporation.”

Leading Maya’s entrance to Morocco has been Noureddine Mokaddem, its executive vice-president, chief operating officer and director. He has prior experience mining in Morocco, with explorers listed on the Casablanca Stock Exchange and as an executive of the ONA Group’s mining division. (The ONA Group is partly owned by the Moroccan royal family.) So far, Mokaddem has been a keen buyer of Maya’s stock, with 800,000 shares bought last year at 25¢ each and 666,666 shares this year at 45¢ each, all in three private placements with warrants attached.

The director with the most shares, however, is chairman Rejean Gosselin. He bought 1.5 million in 2008 at 10¢ and has added 300,000 since then at prices between 25¢ and 35¢. He also controls 122,000 shares indirectly through Onyx Management. The Quebec-based geologist was the main principal behind founding Maya, and before that he was president and CEO of Dia Bras Exploration (DIB-V).

To help further motivate management, Maya passed a resolution at its annual shareholders’ meeting in June. The company will issue up to 4 million shares in stages until 2015 to Goulet and Mokaddem, provided they reach  goals and milestones that include acquisitions of material mining properties and any company property developments up to commercial production.

Shares of Maya closed up 1¢ to 37¢ on 342,000 shares traded following the Sept. 15 announcement of the Zgounder silver mine acquisition.

The company has 49.1 million shares outstanding and a 52-week share price range of 23¢-62¢.