Moneta adopts shareholder rights plan

More than a month after markets applauded Moneta Porcupine Mines‘ (ME-T, MPUCF-O) resource estimate encompassing three of ten distinct gold zones at its Golden Highway project east of Timmins, the company is adopting a shareholder rights plan.

Ian Peres, Moneta’s president and chief executive, argues that Moneta’s market capitalization is “severely disconnected from the perceived value” of the company’s current gold resources, and describes Golden Highway’s latest resource estimate as a “game changer” for Moneta and the entire Timmins gold camp.

Last December, a resource estimate for the three zones at Golden Highway in the Abitibi greenstone belt defined indicated resources of 33.5 million tonnes grading 1 gram gold per tonne for 1.07 million oz. of contained gold and inferred resources of 47.8 million tonnes grading 1.35 grams gold for 2.07 oz. of contained gold.

The three zones have similar styles of mineralization, which the company believes to be part of the same gold mineralizing system. All three zones remain open along strike and to depth and the property contains similar geology along a strike length of 12 kilometres. The property is about 35 km east of Madison.

The shareholder rights plan announced Jan. 24 will help ensure the fair treatment of shareholders in the event of any take-over bid for Moneta’s common shares, Peres says. (Currently there is no proposed or pending unsolicited take-over bid for the company of which management is aware.)

Moneta’s Golden Highway Project includes highly prospective Timiskaming sediments with banded iron formation and associated mafic to ultramafic volcanics that define 12 km of the Destor Porcupine Fault Zone in Michaud Township near Timmins.

Gold mineralization occurs in quartz and quartz-carbonate stockworks and discrete vein zones, all with variable ankerite, hematite and sericite alteration.

The Golden Highway camp has active milling infrastructure with St. Andrew Goldfields 25 km to the east and Brigus Gold 25 km to the west.

Moneta closed at 23¢ per share on Jan. 25. Over the last year the junior has traded within a 52-week range of 13¢-48¢. The junior has about 157.3 million shares outstanding.