Wolfden peddles Red lake properties

Having just arranged to acquire the 30% interest in the My-Ritt property it does not already own, Wolfden Resources (YWO-V) is granting Teck Cominco (TEK-T) an option to take a 60% stake in the property.

The major has also been granted an option to acquire a 61% interest in the St. Paul’s Bay property and a 75% interest in the Skinner gold property. All the properties are in the Red Lake district of northwestern Ontario.

To assume an initial 55% interest in My-Ritt, Teck must spend $4 million on exploration over four years and reimburse all of Wolfden’s expenditures on the property to date. Another $120,000 worth of payments is due during earn-in, and an additional 5% can be had by providing project financing once a feasibility study is done.

Wolfden must pay Explorers Alliance $50,000 and issue 40,000 shares for its minority stake in My-Ritt.

My-Ritt is characterized by geological structures and lithologies found throughout the famous camp. A recent geophysical and geochemical survey suggests it may even host the northern extension of a gold system recently discovered by Placer Dome (PDG-T) and Claude Resources (CRJ-T) at the old Madsen mine.

Drilling is to start shortly.

At St. Paul’s, Teck can first earn a 51% interest in return for $1.5 million worth of exploration over four years. It can boost its position by 10% by completing a feasibility study.

The St. Paul’s property hosts ultramafic rock units within the St. Paul’s Bay deformation zone.

Teck can take an initial 65% stake in the Skinner gold property by funding $700,000 worth of exploration by the end of 2006. The major must also cover annual payments due the original vendor. Teck can earn an additional 10% by spending another $400,000 by the end of 2007.

Newmont Mining (NEM-N) retains a 1% net smelter return royalty after terminating a similar deal at Skinner.

The Skinner property covers the Balmer assemblage of volcanic rocks on the west side of the Birch-Confederation greenstone belt. Newmont identified basaltic and ultramafic komatiite rock units similar to those hosting Placer’s Campbell mine and GoldCorp‘s (G-T) Red Lake mine.

Wolfden notes the presence of significant gold grain count anomalies in basal tills down-ice of Skinner. The area has not been drill-tested.

Exploration on the properties is under way and drilling is expected during the winter.