Mexico’s Echavarria to take 39% stake in Animas

Mexican investor Ernesto Echavarria has given Animas Resources (ANI-V) a $3.4-million cash injection as it works to advance the Santa Gertrudis gold project in northern Mexico.

Echavarria was already a major shareholder of Animas, but as the only participant in a 17-million-unit financing at 20¢ he will double his interest to 39.1%, or 46.4% fully diluted. Echavarria has also committed to providing Animas with a $10-million line of credit if the company produces a positive feasibility study, while the terms of the loan have yet to be settled.

Concurrent with the financing, the board of Animas has appointed John Wilson as president and CEO of the company. Wilson has been the vice-president of exploration at Animas for the past four years, while previous company-head Gregory McKelvey will stay on as a director.

The financial and managerial moves come as Animas looks to shift from exploration to development at its Santa Gertrudis project. The company plans to launch a prefeasibility study on the past-producing asset later this year that will include infill drilling, metallurgical work and engineering studies.

In January the company reported a total inferred resource of 13.5 million tonnes grading 1.28 grams gold per tonne at Santa Gertrudis for 557,000 contained oz. gold, using a 0.3-gram-gold cut-off and based on nine deposits.

Along with development work, Animas plans to conduct limited exploration drilling within the Cristina, Silicoso and Trinidad areas of the Santa Gertrudis project. Animas will own directly – or has options to earn-in on – 348 sq. km of the Santa Gertrudis project.

Now-defunct Campbell Resources bought the property for $10 million in 1995 from Phelps Dodge and declared bankruptcy in 2001. In-between 1991 and 2001 the companies produced 560,000 oz. from 22 open pits at Santa Gertrudis.

Echavarria’s latest investment comes not long after the company’s share price hit a 52-week low of 15¢, having fallen from a high of 54¢ in November 2010. The company’s stock was hard hit in December after a 16-hole exploration program at its Golden Arrow project in Nevada failed to intersect intervals of substantial gold mineralization.

On news of Echavarria’s investment and other company announcements, Animas’ share price climbed 15¢, or 79%, to 34¢ over two days with 1.4 million shares traded.

Echavarria is also a majority shareholder and director of Copper Fox Metals (CUU-V), and since 2009 has invested significantly in Redhill Resources (RHR-V), previously known as ATW Gold, Rye Patch Gold (RPM-V), Aurion Resources (AU-V) and Arco Resources (ARR-V).