Having fended off a hostile takeover bid by
The giant gold producer holds an option to earn interests of between 49% and 60% in six of Channel’s properties in the West African nation. The agreements, if exercised, require the major to provide up to $30 million for exploration expenditures over the next four years.
The agreement with Placer Dome does not include the Bombore permit, which hosts an estimated indicated resource (in oxides) of 35 million tonnes at an average grade of 1.1 gram gold per tonne. This project is at the feasibility study stage and is seen as a potential heap-leach, open-pit mine. Channel holds a 45% working interest and a 10% carried interest in the Bombore permit.
Placer Dome can earn a 60% interest in the Barao and Bouroum North permits by spending US$3 million on exploration. An additional 5% can be earned by funding a further US$2 million towards a feasibility study. Ongoing work on these adjacent permits will focus on a newly discovered gold showing situated in a gold-copper-arsenic soil anomaly.
The major holds a similar option on the Somifa and Madougou permits, where previous exploration resulted in the definition of 10 target areas prospective for large oxide gold deposits, as well as the Tounte and Manaboule permits. The Tounte permit holds a small gold resource, and the structure hosting the deposit has been traced on the adjacent Manaboule permit. Channel will operate all projects using its existing exploration team in West Africa.
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