A private concern will take control of the Spectrum property in northwestern British Columbia under an agreement with owner Columbia Gold Mines (VSE).
Crocodile International Enterprises plans to acquire the gold-copper property for $1.5 million. It has paid Columbia an initial $75,000, with the balance payable in instalments to the end of 1996.
Columbia retains the right to participate as a 30% joint-venture partner at the time of a positive production decision or to retain a 2% net smelter return royalty.
Columbia had planned to conduct underground exploration work in 1993 but was unable to secure the necessary permits for easy ground access to the site.
President John Brock says an access corridor had been designated by the British Columbia government, but ground conditions proved too great an obstacle.
Yet Rod Salfinger, president of Crocodile, says access will no longer be a problem, as he plans to use a barge system on an adjacent lake to reach the property from Crown land. Also, a road exists about five miles from the lake.
Crocodile’s plans for the property include an initial phase of surface and underground diamond drilling budgeted at $5.7 million to confirm and expand the preliminary resource.
Previous surface drilling, including 55 holes, outlined a preliminary resource of 653,000 tons grading 0.33 oz. gold per ton within steeply dipping gold zones.
Salfinger sees excellent potential in expanding the resource to 2-4 million oz. And although he has no plans to take Crocodile public in the near future, he says this may be an option two years down the road.
As for Columbia, Brock is working to farm out the Tillicum gold property near Nakusp, B.C., in an effort to add to the company’s treasury.
Columbia has $400,000 in working capital, and Brock hopes to have $1.5-2 million in the bank by next spring to fund a new project. The company also has 8.8 million shares outstanding.
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