Copper/gold explorer and developer SolGold announced on Wednesday that it would cooperate with shareholder Cornerstone Capital Resources to advance the Cascabel project, in Ecuador.
The announcement ends a two-year standoff and opens the way for the parties to explore strategic and financing options for the project, in which SolGold owns 85% and Cornerstone 15%.
The joint venture partners also agreed to support management in ongoing efforts to finalise the delivery of a new technical report.
"For too long our companies have been pulling in different directions. This initiative provides an opportunity for both companies to put away their differences and to work together for the collective good of the Cascabel project,” said SolGold interim CEO Keith Marshall, who took over from Nick Mather at the end of March.
Mather, who is a director of SolGold, commented in a statement that he was “100% supportive” of the initiative. “I believe it can maximise value for SolGold shareholders, which has been my objective from the very beginning.”
“Delivering an updated technical report that reduces the risk profile of Cascabel along with advancing discussions with Cornerstone in parallel, is the correct strategic decision and will benefit SolGold shareholders,” Mather stated.
Cornerstone president Brooke Macdonald said in the joint statement with SolGold that the focus should be on lowering the development risk at Cascabel and accessing the high-grade core at Alpala.
Alpala currently has 442-million tonnes at 1.40% copper-equivalent in the measured and indicated category, including 359-million tonnes at 1.47% copper-equivalent in the measured category.