Shares of Virginia Mines (VGQ-T) closed 12¢ or 1.3% higher at $9.13 apiece while Altius Minerals (ALS-T) climbed 9¢ or 0.9% to $10.73 on news the two companies had struck a strategic alliance to cooperate on exploration for base and precious metals in eastern Quebec and in southern Labrador.
The alliance merges two project-generation teams that have enjoyed considerable success and the two companies have agreed to share their databases, co-fund early stage exploration programs and jointly seek partners for new projects they create.
Each company brings considerable experience to the table. Altius has $300 million worth of assets including $162 million in cash and no debt. It owns 32.9 million shares of Alderon Iron Ore Corp. (ADV-T) and a 3% gross sales royalty on Alderon’s Kami iron ore project, a 0.3% net smelter return royalty on the Voisey’s Bay nickel-copper-cobalt mine, and a 2% gross sales royalty on uranium in the Central Mineral Belt project of Paladin Energy (PDN-T, PDN-A).
Virginia Mines is one of the most active exploration companies in northern Quebec and as of February 2012 had working capital of $44.8 million. Virginia’s exploration team discovered the Eleonore project in 2004, and sold it to Goldcorp in 2006 for about $500 million. It still holds a 2.2% to 3.5% royalty on the Eleonore project.
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