Mr.
Chad Wells reports
ALTIUS PROVIDES 1ST QUARTER 2018 PROJECT GENERATION UPDATE
Altius Minerals Corp. has updated
its project generation business activities and its public junior
equities portfolio.
The market value of the junior equities portfolio at the close of
trading April 23, 2018, was $52.9-million.
This value includes an increased shareholding in Alderon Iron Ore Corp., as detailed in a press release dated March 23, 2018. It does
not include a $10-million debenture that is convertible into Champion
Iron Ore shares, various in-the-money share purchase warrants or other
equities to be received in exchange for announced project transactions
that remain subject to final closing. An updated list of the public
equity holdings has been posted to the Altius website.
Project updates and new agreements
Altius continued to
advance the new diamond discovery at its Lynx project in Manitoba during
the quarter with the execution of an exploration agreement with the
Bunibonibee Cree Nation.
Microdiamond analysis data received to date from 15 samples from the
Eastern Bay zone have yielded 1,693 microdiamonds (plus-0.106-millimetre-to-plus-0.850-millimetre size fraction) from 240 kilograms of ultramafic host units collected over an
approximately three-kilometre strike length. An independent National Instrument 43-101 report will
be provided in Q2 as Altius prepares to launch a new public company
vehicle around the project. This is anticipated to be undertaken in
partnership with certain strategic investors in order to facilitate the
advancement of the project through bulk sampling programs as quickly as
technically feasible. A project summary is available on Altius's website.
Altius acknowledges support from the Province of Manitoba through its
mineral exploration assistance program.
Aethon Minerals Corp. is expected to begin
trading in the first week of May. Aethon was created when Altius vended
a portfolio of copper-gold projects to Watusi Capital Corp. As a
condition of the transaction, Aethon raised $7.7-million through a
non-brokered private placement led by Sprott Capital Partners and
affiliates. A news release detailing the completion of the transaction
can be viewed on Aethon's website.
Following the transaction Altius will hold or control approximately
19.9 per cent of Aethon and a 2-per-cent gross sales royalty covering its current
portfolio of projects.
A letter of intent has been executed to vend the Sail Pond
silver-copper-lead-zinc project, located in northwestern Newfoundland,
to New Found Gold Corp. (NFG). As consideration, Altius will receive
12 million common shares of NFG and will retain a 2-per-cent net smelter return
(NSR) royalty over the project. Other key conditions of the letter of
intent include NFG listing its common shares on a recognized Canadian
stock exchange and raising a minimum of $7.5-million through a private
placement, of which Altius would invest a minimum of $1-million. A full
summary of the deal terms are available on Altius's website.
Altius has received 7,754,371 common shares of Sokoman Iron Corp.
as payment for its option of the Moosehead gold project in
Central Newfoundland while retaining a 2-per-cent NSR royalty. A more detailed
account of the transaction and project highlights can be viewed on Sokoman's website.
Junior equities portfolio highlights
In April, Adventus Zinc
Corp., in which Altius holds an approximately 27-per-cent shareholding,
released infill drilling results from the El Domo VMS (volcanogenic massive sulphide) deposit at its
Curipamba copper-lead-zinc project in Ecuador. To date, Adventus has
completed approximately 2,100 metres of its planned 7,500-metre program.
Seven drill holes have returned significant intersections of
semi-massive-to-massive sulphide mineralization with a highlight being
drill hole CURI-250, which intersected 10.35 metres grading 3.85 per cent copper,
5.12 grams per tonne gold, 10.34 per cent zinc, 139.0 grams per tonne silver and 0.95 per cent lead (see
Adventus's website). On
April 16, 2018, Evrim Resources Corp. released significant exploration results from its 100-per-cent-owned Cuale gold project
in Mexico, which included assays from a surface trench that graded 13.61
grams per tonne gold (uncut) over 106.2 metres (see Evrim's website).
Altius holds a 1.5-per-cent NSR royalty for precious metals on the Cuale project
and is Evrim's largest shareholder with approximately 17 per cent of the
outstanding shares of the company plus additional common share purchase
warrants.
On April 4, 2018, Wolfden Resources Corp. released results from
five of the 15 holes drilled in the current 10,000-metre exploration
program at its Picket Mountain project in Maine, with the highlight
being an intercept of 7.9 metres grading 14.8 per cent zinc, 5.7 per cent lead, 2.4 per cent copper,
187.3 grams per tonne silver and 1.3 grams per tonne gold from hole PM-18-007. The intent of this
program is to confirm and expand upon historical drilling done in the
1980s as Wolfden works to complete a qualified mineral resource estimate
by year-end (see
Wolfden's website).
Dr. Lawrence Winter, PhD, PGeo, vice-president of exploration for
Altius, a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, is responsible for the
scientific and technical data presented herein and has reviewed,
prepared and approved this release.
About Altius Minerals Corp.
Altius directly and indirectly holds
diversified royalties and streams that generate revenue from 15
operating mines. These are located in Canada and Brazil and produce
copper, zinc, nickel, cobalt, iron ore, potash and thermal (electrical)
and metallurgical coal. The portfolio also includes numerous
predevelopment stage royalties covering a wide spectrum of mineral
commodities and jurisdictions. It also holds a large portfolio of
exploration-stage projects, which the company has generated for deal making with
industry partners that results in newly created royalties and equity and
minority interests.
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