TSX-V-listed Osisko Development on Tuesday announced its planned move into the historic Tintic mining district of central Utah with the acquisition of Tintic Consolidated Metals.

The transaction will give Osisko full ownership of the producing Trixie mine, as well as mineral claims covering more than 6 680 ha.

The recent discovery of an ultra-high-grade structure (T2) positions Trixie as one of the highest-grade gold mines in the world.

“We have been looking at the Tintic district for over 10 years as a copper/gold porphyry target and with the discovery of the high-grade T2 gold structure, we were given the opportunity by the Tintic partners to visit and carry out due diligence ahead of other competitors, ultimately culminating in the acquisition of this fantastic growth opportunity in one of the top mining jurisdictions in the world with a best-in-their-class management and operating team,” said Osisko president Chris Lodder.

In the near term, Osisko was proposing technical work at Trixie with the objective that it would justify further development, targeting an increase in production from about 20 000 oz/y to 100 000 oz/y by 2024 through a low-capital intensity expansion.

The company said that the T2 structure showed excellent continuity of high grades and appeared to be increasing in thickness towards the upper contact with shale.

More than 2 300 underground samples had been collected over a 215 m strike length with an average grade of 93 g/t gold and 135 g/t silver.

Osisko reported gold production from underground mining and vat leach processing in 2021 of 14 709 oz at an average head grade of 59 g/t. Over the past week, production from exploration and development mineralisation, which was processed through small-scale vat leaching at about 45 t/d, was at blended grades between 1.2 oz/t (41 g/t) and 5.7 oz/t (195 g/t) gold with an average of 4.5 oz/t (154 g/t) gold.

“In an industry where gold grade is typically quoted in terms of ‘grams’, we have welcomed the shift to talking in terms of ‘ounces’ for Trixie where we see an excellent opportunity to build and expand upon existing ultra-high-grade production with the potential to maintain a low capital intensity,” said Osisko chairperson and CEO Sean Roosen.

Pursuant to the terms of the transaction, Osisko will acquire 100% of Tintic from the vendors for aggregate payments at closing totalling $177-million, of which $54-million will be paid in cash.