Australian miner Newcrest has entered into an option and farm-in heads of agreement with Canadian junior Cornerstone Capital Resources, focusing on two early-stage projects in south-central Ecuador.
In terms of the agreement, a subsidiary of Newcrest has an option to earn up to a 75% interest in the Caña Brava and Tioloma properties, targeting epithermal gold/silver and porphyry gold/copper deposits.
Ecuador is one of the hottest destinations for junior copper prospectors. Major miners are taking less risky positions by entering into joint ventures (JVs) or investing in juniors to gain exposure to projects in that country.
Newcrest already owns a 27.1% interest in Lundin Gold, which is building the Fruta del Norte gold mine, and has an earn-in agreement to form a JV to explore eight early stage concessions near Fruta del Norte. The major further owns and a 15.3% interest in SolGold, which is advancing the potentially world-class Cascabel copper/gold project.
Cornerstone owns 15% of SolGold’s Ecuadorian company that holds the Cascabel concession. Cornerstone has rejected takeover attempts by SolGold, which earlier this month said it would take its offer directly to shareholders.