Agnico-Eagle agrees to option agreement with Golden Goliath

Agnico-Eagle Mines (AEM-T, AEM-N) and Golden Goliath Resources (GNG-V) have signed a letter of intent for an option and joint-venture exploration and development agreement at the junior’s Las Bolas and Los Hilos properties in northwestern Mexico’s Sierra Madre Occidental Mountains.

Under the agreement, which is expected to be finalized over the next month, a Mexican subsidiary of Agnico has the right to earn a 51% interest in the Las Bolas and Los Hilos properties by spending $5 million on the properties over five years.

Agnico also will have the right to earn an additional 20% interest by completing a feasibility study or by spending an additional $10 million over a second five-year period.

In the first year of the agreement, Agnico must spend $500,000 on the properties with expenditure requirements increasing each year.

Las Bolas and Los Hilos are within Golden Goliath’s Uruachic mining camp and have been under exploration for the past two years. The current drill program is expected to be completed shortly.

Las Bolas and Los Hilos have four known mineralized trends, three of which host 12 known vein systems and a number of old workings, including the extensive Las Bolas mine, with high-grade silver and gold values. The fourth trend, which hosts the Los Hilos workings, has bulk tonnage gold and silver potential as well as high-grade vein mineralization, which Golden Goliath believes is related to a porphyry system at depth.

The southern end of the 1.5-km-long Los Hilos trend is a few kilometres from Fresnillo‘s (FRES-L) Orisyvo, a new gold and silver discovery. Orisyvo is a large disseminated gold system outcropping in a remote area of the Sierra Madre, which has considerable exploration potential.

News of the agreement with Agnico sent Golden Goliath’s shares up 1.5¢ or 6.4% to 25¢ in mid-morning trading.

Over the last year the junior has traded in a range of 14¢-29¢ per share.