The Supreme Court of British Columbia has dismissed a legal challenge by
Atna, which owns the remaining 40% interest in the Yukon polymetallic massive sulphide project, had argued that its right of first refusal, contained in the joint-venture agreement with Boliden Westmin, had been triggered by the intended sale. However, Madame Justice Baker disagreed.
“The decision amounts to a complete vindication of the position taken in this matter by Expatriate and Boliden Westmin,” stated Harlan Meade, president of Expatriate. “It opens the way to completing our purchase of Boliden Westmin’s Wolverine interest in accordance with our May 26, 1998, agreement.”
Boliden structured that agreement as a two-tier arrangement. The first part involved the transfer of certain interests in patented hydrometallurgical technology to Expatriate in return for 1.7 million of its shares. The sale of the proprietary technology closed in August.
The second part of the deal involves the sale of Boliden’s mineral interests in the Finlayson Lake district of southeastern Yukon, including its 60% interest in the Wolverine joint venture and the wholly owned, 581-claim Tuchita property.
The Wolverine joint venture consists of 1,770 mineral claims and is host to the high-grade Wolverine volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposit, which contains a resource of 6.2 million tonnes grading 12.66% zinc, 1.33% copper and 1.55% lead, plus 370.9 grams silver and 1.76 grams gold per tonne.
In consideration for transferring its Finlayson Lake assets to Expatriate, Boliden will receive 4.9 million shares, thereby giving it a 52% ownership of Expatriate on an undiluted basis.
On completion of the sales agreement, Expatriate says it will convene a joint-venture meeting with Atna as soon as possible to plan the 1999 exploration program and address the metallurgical concerns caused by unusually high levels of selenium that plague the Wolverine deposit.
Separately, Expatriate will have its wholly owned subsidiary Nitrosyl Technologies evaluate the application of its proprietary metal-leaching processes to the Wolverine deposit for the recovery of metals and removal of the selenium.
The acquisition of Boliden’s interest in the Wolverine joint venture gives Expatriate a commanding presence in the Finlayson Lake district, with a land package consisting of more than 8,000 mineral claims, including the wholly owned Ice property, 80 km northwest of the Wolverine deposit.
In 1996, while drill testing a secondary zone of copper oxide mineralization at the Ice property, the company discovered an underlying, unoxidized, copper-rich VMS body. The mafic-hosted body occurs in the Slide Mountain terrane and is described by Expatriate as a Cyprus-type deposit.
Based on 116 diamond drill holes completed in 1996 and 1997, the company estimated a resource of just under 4.6 million tonnes grading 1.48% copper, with minor gold, silver and cobalt. Mineralization consists of massive sulphide lenses, stringer sulphides and near-surface secondary oxide copper.
The estimate was calculated by the sectional method using a copper cutoff grade of 0.3% for sulphides and 0.5% for oxides.
The resource estimate has been audited by Ian Thompson of Derry, Michener, Booth & Wahl Consultants, reports Expatriate.
In addition to its varied mineral interests in the Yukon, Expatriate recently completed a preliminary 8-hole, 1,600-metre program of reverse-circulation drilling on the Cerro Cristales oxide copper property in northern Chile. Assay results are expected shortly.
The property is in the Atacama Desert at an elevation of 1,300 metres, 50 km south of Antofagasta Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Latina Resources, Expatriate can earn an initial 60% interest in the 9,600-ha property from the Chilean subsidiary of
Preliminary field studies by Phelps Dodge defined a 2,000-by-500-metre geochemical copper anomaly comprising more than 20 surface chip samples averaging 0.3% copper. Expatriate carried out further geological mapping, chip sampling and geophysical surveying in preparation for drilling.
Fifty-nine samples were collected, representing 471 metres of sampling. Results ranged from 0.01% to 0.74% copper, for a length-weighted average of 0.23% copper. Two main mineralized areas were found to have dimensions of 150 by 500 metres and 100 by 600 metres. A gravel cover obscures the full extent of the mineralization, which consists mainly of the oxide copper mineral chrysocolla.
Gradient induced-polarization (IP) surveys defined a subtle chargeability anomaly coincident with the known copper mineralization, in the adjacent gravel covered area.
Meanwhile, Atna is conducting an initial field program on the San Antonio I concession in the Dominican Republic, where it can earn a 60% interest in the property from
The San Antonio I concession is underlain by Maimon Formation quartz-sericite schists, chlorite schists and tuffaceous sediments — the same sequence of rocks containing
Previous work on San Antonio identified a 6,000-by-600-metre multi-element, precious and base metal soil anomaly, as well as coincident IP chargeability and resistivity anomalies. Surface sampling of float material yielded gold values in the range of 1-5 grams.
Past drilling intercepted 15.6 metres of massive-to-semi-massive sulphides grading 1.18% copper, 0.53% zinc, 9 grams silver and 0.7 gram gold near a quartz-sericite, sediment contact and 1.4 metres grading 0.84% zinc, 4.8% zinc, 13.1 grams silver and 0.4 gram gold in a second hole at the same contact. Drilling will resume early next year.
Be the first to comment on "Atna loses court challenge"