Cambior (CBJ-T) is buying the half interest it doesn’t already own in the Sleeping Giant gold mine in northwestern Quebec from Aurizon Mines (ARZ-T) for $5 million in cash.
The deal, which will take effect April 30, 2005, also releases Aurizon from all environmental liabilities and reclamation costs associated with the operation and closure of the mine.
Commented Aurizon President and CEO David P. Hall: “Aurizon’s future is the successful development of its major asset, Casa Berardi [also in Quebec]. Selling Sleeping Giant provides Aurizon with additional cash, and marks the transformation of Aurizon from a joint-venture participant in a small producer to a future operator of a larger mine.”
Meanwhile, Louis Gignac, Cambior’s president and CEO said that the acquisition is consistent with the company’s approach of focusing on our assets for future growth.
The acquisition cost of C$55 per oz. (US$45 per oz.), he said, is “reasonable and provides us with greater flexibility in the future development and exploration of the mine.”
Gignac believes that further benefits may accrue by extending at depth the mine’s known mineralized lenses.
Last year, Sleeping Giant produced 67,000 oz. gold at a cost of US$291 per oz. and, in 2005, the mine is set to produce 56,000 oz. gold at a cost of US$320 per oz.
Reserves at year-end totalled 490,000 tonnes grading 11.6 grams gold per tonne, or 183,200 contained oz. gold.
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