TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Toronto-listed Goldgroup Mining on Tuesday said it had changed some of the terms of its acquisition of TSX-V-listed Oroco Resource Corporation, as a result of a deterioration in the gold price since the transaction was first announced in January.
In a statement on Tuesday, Vancouver-based Goldgroup said it had closed the $18-million transaction by paying an initial $4.5-million for the Cerro Prieto gold/silver/lead/zinc project, in Sonora state, Mexico.
However, both companies had agreed to an amended and restated debt assignment and share purchase agreement, which included a quarterly production royalty payment to Oroco.
Mexico-focused Goldgroup said it intended to start small-scale trial mining and leaching in the fourth quarter, to determine the ideal parameters to put the project into production in 2014. This would be done without completing a preliminary economic assessment.
The Cerro Prieto project encompasses mineral concessions totalling about 7 000 ha and contains about 17.5 km of strike length of the mineralised structure hosting the current resource.
“As we begin slowly winding down mining operations at Cerro Colorado, we are successfully transitioning equipment and personnel from there to the Cerro Prieto project. Furthermore, with the project finance in place, we are able to move the Cerro Prieto project closer to gold production, which we anticipate over the next twelve months,” Goldgroup president, chairperson and CEO Keith Piggott said.