Eastfield to transfer Canadian assets

Eastfield Resources (ETF-V) plans to spin off its Canadian properties into a new company.

Under the plan, shareholders will exchange one Eastfield share for one New Eastfield share and one share in the new company, which will also be listed on the Vancouver Stock Exchange.

All of Eastfield’s Canadian mineral properties will be transferred to the new firm, along with sufficient working capital to finance its share of 1997 exploration costs.

The properties to be transferred include: the Beekeeper-Arab copper-gold project near Williams Lake, B.C.; Canadian Creek in the Yukon; the Alliger Lake nickel-copper-cobalt prospect in Labrador; and the Spanish Mountain gold and Indata Lake gold-copper prospects, both of which are in British Columbia.

Eastfield will retain everything not transferred to the new company and will continue to focus on the exploration and development of its Nevada properties. It expects to spend more than $1 million on exploration in 1997 for all properties not transferred.

Those properties include the Tonopah gold project and North Mill Creek project, both of which are in Nevada.

The 12,500-acre Beekeeper-Arab project is being developed jointly with Imperial Metals (IPM-T), which is also building the nearby Mt. Polley gold-copper mine. Eastfield is the operator.

The companies plan a $250,000 exploration program at Beekeeper this summer.

The first phase of the program consists of 1,050 metres of drilling, in six holes, with geophysics and more drilling planned for later in the spring.

Canadian Creek has been optioned to Alexis Resources, a junior awaiting a Vancouver listing. Spanish Mountain has been optioned to Consolidated Logan Mines (CKO-V), and Indata Lake has been optioned to Clear Creek Resources, another junior waiting for a Vancouver listing.

Tonopah in Nevada includes the Hill of Gold and Three Hills gold deposits.

The Three Hills deposit is being developed jointly by Eastfield and Calgary-based Prism Resources (PRN-V).

North Mill Creek comprises 72 unpatented claims about 18 miles south of the town of Battle Mountain and 27 km northwest of Placer Dome’s (PDG-T) Pipeline deposit.

Eastfield can earn a 60% interest in North Mill Creek from Cyprus Amax Minerals (CYM-N) by spending US$500,000 on exploration over four years.

A $100,000 program of rotary drilling will begin in April. The target is the Roberts Mountain Formation, the preferred host rock for the Pipeline and Cortez deposits.