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Abitibi Greenstone Belt

Agnico Eagle Offers To Acquire Alexandria Minerals – by Allen Sykora (Kitco News – June 14, 2019)

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. (NYSE, TSX: AEM) has made an offer to acquire Alexandria Minerals Corp. (TSXV: AZX), a Toronto-based junior gold and exploration company, for C$26 million, the companies reported Friday. The proposal is based on a purchase price of 5 Canadian cents per share.

Alexandria said that its board of directors concluded that the unsolicited offer constitutes a “superior proposal” as outlined in a prior May 14 agreement with Chantrell Ventures Corp. Chantrell now has a 10-business-day period in which it can amend its own offer for Alexandria.

To enter an agreement with Agnico Eagle, Alexandria would first have to terminate the Chantrell agreement and pay a fee of C$875,000. If the Alexandria board accepts the Agnico Eagle offer, the agreement would be subject to approval of Alexandria shareholders.

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High-grade discoveries open “whole new chapter” at Kirkland Lake mine: Exploration drilling probes unexplored areas at Macassa’s South Mine Complex – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – May 2, 2019)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Kirkland Lake’s Macassa Mine doesn’t appear to be relinquishing its status as one the world’s richest gold mines. Kirkland Lake Gold released some eye-popping high-grade drill intercepts from its ongoing underground exploration and expansion project within the South Mine Complex (SMC).

In an May 2 news release, the company highlighted the results from 73 drill holes and nearly 30,000 metres worth of drilling from the east and west exploration drifts on the mine’s 5300-foot and 5700-foot level.

Some of the high-grade intersections include 118.8 grams per tonne (g/t) over a 2.0 metre core length at SMC, and 4,772 g/t over a 2.0-metre length from an identified zone, west of the current resource. A 1.8-metre section from another hole yielded 2,458.6 g/t in the lower complex and to the east and at depth.

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A record year for Kirkland Lake Gold: Production, expansion at Macassa has northeast miner poised for growth in 2019 and beyond – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – January 9, 2019)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Kirkland Lake Gold announced record levels of annual and quarterly production from its mines in northeastern Ontario and Australia. The Toronto-based global miner said total 2018 production at its three cornerstone mines was a record 723,477 ounces, up 21 per cent from the 596,405 ounces from the previous year.

Each of three achieved record annual production last year, including 356,230 ounces at Fosterville in Australia, 240,126 ounces at Macassa in Kirkland Lake, and 58,633 ounces at the Taylor Mine near Matheson.

The Holt Mine, also near Matheson, produced 67,770 ounces for the year. Total production in the fourth quarter of 2018 reached 230,993 ounces, 28 per cent higher than the previous record of 180,155 ounces achieved in the third quarter of last year.

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Troilus buys more land north-east of past-producing mine – by Staff (MiningWeekly.com – November 29, 2018)

http://www.miningweekly.com/

Quebec-focused exploration and early-development company Troilus has significantly expanded its land position through the acquisition of the Troilus North project, located north-east of the Val-d’Or mining district.

The Toronto-based company is focused on restarting the former Troilus mine, which Inmet Mining operated as an openpit between 1997 and 2010, producing more than two-million ounces of gold and almost 70 000 t of copper.

TSX-listed Troilus will acquire the Troilus North project from Emgold Mining for 3.75-million shares and C$250 000 in cash. The cash component will absolve a bridge loan previously advanced.

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Amid mining slump, industry veteran Sean Roosen sees light at the end of the tunnel – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – November 12, 2018)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Sean Roosen’s motto is “SUDS.” It stands for “shut up and drill, stupid!” The mining executive says it’s a message his industry needs to embrace as it battles through another slump.

Environmental protectionism has gone too far, mining permits need to be more easily obtained and there’s too much interference from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which he says “do nothing” for the economy.

The loud, burly career miner is no slick Bay Street executive. He calls himself a “hillbilly.” But he’s someone who people listen to. Mr. Roosen heads up one of a handful of Canadian mining royalty companies, but he’s best known as part of a trio who founded, developed and built Canadian Malartic, Canada’s biggest gold mine. In the process he pioneered a new method of mining that revolutionized the notoriously slow-to-innovate industry.

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Kirkland Lake Gold raises stake in Osisko Mining – Staff (Northern Miner – September 19, 2018)

http://www.northernminer.com/

Kirkland Lake Gold (TSX: KL; NYSE: KL) has boosted its ownership in Osisko Mining (TSX: OSK) from 8.58% to about 13.61%.

The mid-tier gold producer reported it has invested about C$25 million to acquire 14.71 million Osisko shares at $1.70 apiece, bringing its total shares in the company to 32.63 million.

Kirkland Lake’s president and CEO, Tony Makuch, said the strategic investment increases its ownership interest in northwestern Quebec’s Urban Barry area, which he believes “has become a new, highly prospective mining camp in the prolific Abitibi Greenstone belt.”

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NEWS RELEASE: Wallbridge Announces $3.9 Million Strategic Investment by Eric Sprott (September 14, 2018)

http://www.wallbridgemining.com/

Toronto, Ontario – September 14, 2018 – Wallbridge Mining Company Limited (TSX:WM, FWB: WC7) (“Wallbridge” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it has closed a non-brokered private placement (the “Offering”) through the issuance of 30,000,000 units of the Company (each a “Unit”) for gross proceeds of $3,900,000. Eric Sprott, through 2176423 Ontario Ltd., a corporation which is beneficially owned by him, was the sole purchaser of the Offering.

“We are pleased to have a gold investor such as Eric Sprott as one of our large shareholders. Eric is very familiar with high grade gold deposits in the world and Fenelon obviously fit that bill,” stated Marz Kord, President & CEO of Wallbridge. “On behalf of all Wallbridge shareholders, we welcome Eric’s support in our drive to make Fenelon Gold to be the first high grade operating mine in this emerging belt in Northwestern Quebec.”

Under the terms of the Offering, the Units were issued at a price of $0.13 per Unit. Each Unit consists of one common share of the Company (a “Common Share”) and a one-half Common Share purchase warrant. Each whole Warrant (a “Warrant”) will entitle the holder to acquire one additional Common Share (a “Warrant Share”) for a period of twenty-four (24) months from the closing date at an exercise price of $0.20 per Warrant Share.

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Detour Gold reports initial mineral resource for Zone 58N – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – July 26, 2018)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Gold deposit located near Detour Lake gold mine

Detour Gold is reporting an initial mineral resource for its Zone 58N, which is located six kilometres south of the Detour Lake gold mine.

The mineral resource estimate is comprised of an indicated resource of 2.87 million tonnes grading 5.80 grams per tonne for 534,300 ounces of gold, and an inferred resource of 0.97 million tonnes grading 4.35 grams per tonne for 136,100 ounces of gold.

“Detour Gold is in the fortunate position of having a large mineral reserve base of 16 million ounces supporting a mine life of 23 years,” said Michael Kenyon, Detour Gold’s interim CEO, in a July 26 news release.

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Yamana Gold Inc. shares surge on strong quarterly results – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – July 28, 2018)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Shares in Yamana Gold Inc. surged the most in two years on Friday, after the mid-tier gold company swept past analyst expectations in its latest quarter and sounded a bullish tone on future production.

The bump in Yamana’s shares, which closed up 9.1 per cent on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Friday, comes the day after heavy selling in senior producers Barrick Gold Corp., Goldcorp Inc. and Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd., all of which missed quarterly earnings estimates.

Yamana’s second-quarter adjusted profit came in at 5 cents a share, 3 cents better than analysts were expecting, thanks to higher production and lower costs. On a net basis, the Toronto-based miner earned US$18-million in profit.

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[Alexandria Minerals Proxy Fight] How a penny stock miner came to face a multimillion-dollar problem – by Jennifer Wells (Toronto Star – July 18, 2018)

https://www.thestar.com/

It’s tough to get anyone to pay attention when you’re running a four-cent stock. But then the name Sprott Inc. shows up. And Institutional Shareholder Services. And Glass Lewis. And Joe Groia, the lawyer. And Navigator, the crisis management firm. And a wagonload of mud slinging. And a full-on proxy fight with a voting deadline of this week.

All of which leads the reasonable person to ask: what the heck is going on here? The company in question: Alexandria Minerals Inc., a penny miner with dreams of gold. The agitator: geologist and ousted CEO Eric Owens, who founded the company more than a decade ago.

Owens found himself turfed from the firm in February four days after he publicly announced his intention to call a shareholder meeting to remove three board members, in what the chairman of the board calls a “costly and distracting proxy fight.”

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The odds are stacked against gold juniors like never before: Abitibi Royalties CEO – by Valentina Ruiz Leotaud (Mining.com – July 14, 2018)

http://www.mining.com/

Huge hurdles are stacked against gold juniors in the quest to become a mine, says Abitibi Royalties’ CEO Ian Ball.

Ball, who spoke to MINING.com in March at PDAC in Toronto, was former President of McEwen Mining before moving onto Abitibi Royalties four years ago. During Ball’s tenure as CEO, the company’s stock has increased 3.1 times in value going from $3.27 per share to $10.44.

Ball sees a lot of headwinds in the industry. He does not see a significant gold price moves to the upside. Average gold grade is declining, which requires larger plants and more capital to move ore. Regulations are becoming more stringent. Productivity improvements are still lagging.

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Osisko Mining shareholders vote in favour of controversial stock-options package – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – June 29, 2018)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Osisko Mining Inc.’s shareholders voted in favour of a controversial stock-options package Friday, while its chief executive officer says the company intends to move away from options as a form of compensation over time.

Ahead of Friday’s annual general meeting, proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) advised shareholders of the junior mining company to vote against the package, citing concerns over its excessive cost, and criticizing the lack of performance-based criteria for receiving the options.

At Osisko, options are widely granted to officers, directors and employees, and often make up the lion’s share of compensation. For example, CEO John Burzynski made $3.15-million, with about $2.1-million in options, a $500,000 salary and a $590,000 bonus. Independent director Sean Roosen was paid $743,000 last year, $688,000 in options and a $55,000 cash fee.

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[Quebec Mining] Urban Barry gold camp gold explorers merge – by Esmarie Swanepoel (MiningWeekly.com – June 19, 2018)

http://www.miningweekly.com/

TSX-V-listed junior Bonterra Resources and Metanor Resources have struck a merger agreement to create an advanced Canadian gold exploration and development company.

Under the terms of the agreement, Bonterra will acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares in Metanor for C$0.73 in equity consideration, at an exchange ratio of 1.6039 Bonterra shares, for each Metanor share.

Following the acquisition, Bonterra shareholders will hold some 58% of the combined company with Metanor shareholders holding the balance.

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Osisko builds critical mass in Quebec – by Trish Saywell (Northern Miner – May 17, 2018)

http://www.northernminer.com/

In the first five months of the year, Osisko Mining (TSX: OSK) released resource estimates for two projects in Quebec while keeping in step with an ambitious drill program that is the largest of its kind in Canada.

Earlier this month, Osisko unveiled its first resource estimate on its 100%-owned Windfall deposit, 115 km east of the town of Lebel-sur-Quevillon. Windfall is one of the highest-grade resource-stage gold projects in Canada.

The company outlined an indicated resources of 2.38 million tonnes grading 7.85 grams gold per tonne for 601,000 ounces of contained gold and inferred resources of 10.61 million tonnes grading 6.7 grams gold for 2.28 million oz. of gold, using a cut-off grade of 3 grams gold per tonne.

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Orefinders pick up former northeast gold mine – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – April 4, 2018)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Gold explorer building stable of northeast properties with McGarry Mine acquisition

There’s new ownership coming for a former gold mine in the Kirkland Lake area. Toronto’s Orefinders Resources announced April 3 that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Kerr Mines (formerly Armistice Resources) to acquire the McGarry Mine and Barber-Larder properties.

Under the deal, Orefinders will issue 8 million common shares to Kerr. The shares are subject to a lock-up agreement with Kerr and are scheduled to be free trading over a two-year period.

The McGarry property is in Virginiatown, between Kirkland Lake and the Quebec border, and spans 2.4 kilometres on the Cadillac Larder Lake Break, considered one of the world’s most prolific gold structures. It’s located next to the Kerr-Addison Mine, which once produced more than 12 million ounces of gold over a 58-year period ending in 1996.

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