TSX-V-listed GFG Resources has signed a definitive earn-in agreement with global miner Barrick Gold on GFG's Pen Gold project, in Ontario.

The agreement provides Barrick with the opportunity to earn an initial 60% interest in Pen as the project operator by making aggregate cash payments of $1.2-million, funding $17.6-million in exploration and project development, and delivering a mineral resource estimate of at least 1.5-million ounces of gold or gold-equivalent within six years.

Barrick may increase its interest in the project to 70% by solely funding a preliminary economic assessment and to 80% by solely funding a feasibility study.

Barrick has committed to fund a minimum $4-million in qualifying expenditures within the first three years, which will go towards at least 5 000 m of diamond drilling.

GFG says the transaction provides a pathway to aggressively advance Pen while allowing GFG to direct its funds towards the Goldarm property and broader discovery pipeline in the Timmins Gold District.

“This proposed partnership represents a significant value-creating opportunity for GFG shareholders and a strong endorsement of the scale and quality of the Pen project. The transaction provides for substantial partner-funded exploration, meaningful near-term drilling and a pathway to advance Pen through resource definition and potentially feasibility, while GFG retains significant exposure to future success," says GFG CEO and president Brian Skanderbeg.

He adds that Pen is a large and highly prospective land package in the Timmins Gold District that requires the scale of investment contemplated under this transaction to fully evaluate its potential.

Importantly, this structure will allow GFG to accelerate exploration at Pen without drawing on GFG’s treasury, while the team and capital remain focused on advancing Goldarm - an emerging, underexplored gold corridor located within the well-established Timmins mining camp, where active programmes at Aljo, Montclerg and Nahanni are building a pipeline of high-priority targets and new discovery opportunities.