Pure Gold files claim against Ashton

Vancouver — Pure Gold Minerals (PUG-T) has filed a Statement of Claim in the Supreme Court of British Columbia charging joint venture partner Ashton Mining of Canada (ACA-T) with breach of contract over the Slave Regional project in Nunavut.

The junior is seeking damages for breach of contract and of fiduciary duty. The company claims that it is entitled to 12% interest in both the Hydra Claims and the Perseus Claims, and an 11% stake in the Artemisia Claims. Pure Gold further states that any Ashton claims acquired in the Coronation Gulf area, to the exclusion of Pure Gold, entiles the junior to acquire an interest in those claims.

Pure Gold also requests all information relevant to the joint venture previously withheld, including but not limited to the Hydra, Perseus, Artemisia and Coronation Gulf claims, and that disclosures be required on an ongoing basis through the remaining terms of any joint venture agreement.

Ashton just picked up 5 properties lying east, south and west of Pure Gold and Ashton’s Ric property. The AG, AW, JUQ/PA, TE and WS properties, follow an earlier agreement over the BH property, all of which lie in the Coronation Gulf region of Nunavut.

Ashton has found considerable success in the Slave Region joint venture area. The company recently discovered a new kimberlite exposed in outcrop on the Kim property. The newly dubbed Thrift kimberlite was found in outcrop and float on opposite sides of a lake measuring 75 metres in diameter while investigating a magnetic anomaly identified from an airborne geophysical survey completed earlier this year. Its corresponding magnetic signature is roughly 100 metres in diameter.

The Thrift kimberlite is 2.5 km southwest of the diamond-bearing Artemisia, where Ashton finished collecting an 11-tonne mini-test sample from seven core holes. Based on the recent drilling, Artemisia is now interpreted to be much larger than initial estimates, measuring 250 by 150 metres to cover about 3 hectares.

Since last year, nine kimberlites have been identified in the North Slave craton region of Nunavut, including Ashton’s Artemisia, Perseus, and the Potentilla kimberlite. Five of the eight kimberlites are confirmed to be diamondiferous.