Queries Lansdowne, Beaver Creek to merge

(Set 8 and 1/2 pt. on 10 times italic across TWO columns)

Have you heard anything about the merger of Vancouver-based Lansdowne Oil and Minerals and Beaver Creek Goldfields of Montreal? I hear Beaver Creek has over $1 million in the bank and that it is undertaking some major moves. L.C.W., Arlington, Va.

The merger (on a share-for-share basis) of the two companies, which entered into a formal agreement on the subject last December, is awaiting only regulatory approval, a senior officer with Beaver Creek Goldfields’ major shareholder, Beaver Creek Explorations U.S.A., told The Northern Miner.

Vice-president Richard Andrews said the American firm will retain controlling interest in the new Canadian company. Both Beaver Creek Goldfields and Beaver Creek Explorations are privately held; Lansdowne Oil and Minerals trades on the vse. Beaver Creek’s current working capital stands at about $750,000, Mr Andrews said.

Among Beaver Creek Goldfields’ assets are the mining rights to about 15,000 acres of placer gold south of Quebec City, 43 claims in the Casa Berardi area and 88 claims in the Chibougamau, Que., area. (The latter two properties have been optioned to Hemlo Explorations, which may earn a 50% interest in each prospect.)

Recently, Beaver Creek Goldfields became involved in a heap- leach project in California (near Las Vegas, Nev.) on property which formerly produced silver (and some gold).

Having acquired the rights to an agreement with Mesa Silver Corp. from its major U.S. shareholder, Beaver Creek Goldfields may earn a 60% interest by spending a minimum $500,000 on exploration and development and electing to make a production decision.