TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – TSX-V-listed Probe Mines late on Wednesday announced that it had consolidated ownership over the entire 70 km strike length of the Borden Gold Belt, in Ontario.
The Toronto-based explorer signed and subsequently consummated a definitive agreement to acquire Boises Landrienne, a subsidiary of Scierie Landrienne Inc (SLI), securing full ownership of the mineral rights to 486 patented claims in and around the Borden gold deposit.
The land package included key claims within the high-grade zone (HGZ) and an extensive land package connecting the Borden gold project to the company's East Limb project, located about 22 km to the east.
Probe paid SLI C$25-million in cash at closing and issued six-million shares, which represented 6.6% of the company. All shares issued were subject to a holding period of four months.
“The acquisition of this strategic land package puts the company in an unparalleled position in what we believe to be Ontario's newest gold camp. To own a district-sized property surrounding a new multimillion-ounce deposit with all of its untapped exploration potential is a unique situation that adds considerable value to our shareholders,” Probe chairperson Jamie Sokalsky said.
Probe president and CEO David Palmer, who was on Tuesday awarded the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada’s Bill Dennis award for a Canadian mineral discovery or prospecting success because of the Borden project, said that aside from the initial discoveries of the Borden gold deposit and the HGZ, the acquisition represented the most pivotal milestone in the project's transition to a development-stage asset.
“Probe now owns a 100% interest in the entire Borden gold deposit including all the claims along the potential south-east strike extension. Our immediate plan is to initiate an infill drill programme in the centre of the HGZ over the claim commonly referred to as the ‘wedge’ claim. We anticipate that this will have a significant impact on our current resource estimate through the addition of more high-grade gold mineralisation,” he said.
The company's June technical report had estimated a high-grade gold resource with potential for underground extraction totalling 1.6-million ounces in the indicated resource category (9.3-million tonnes grading 5.39 g/t gold), and 430 000 oz of gold in the inferred category (three-million tonnes grading 4.37 g/t) at a 2.5 g/t gold cutoff. The deposit still remained open for expansion.
Probe rose 2.6% on the TSX-V on Wednesday to close at C$2.76 apiece.