New tents pitched in Red Lake camp

Aquiline Resources (AQI-V) has entered into an option agreement to acquire a 60% stake in Global Consolidated Minerals’ Dome project, in the Red Lake mining camp in northern Ontario.

To acquire its interest in the 2.6-sq.-km property, Aquiline must pay $40,000 in cash and spend $160,000 on exploration over four years. In addition, the company will also assume an underlying 2% net smelter return royalty and $95,000 in payments to the property’s original vendor, and pay a finder’s fee of 100,000 shares.

The property is adjacent to the past-producing Howey gold mine but has been little-explored. A geophysical survey is planned.

Meanwhile, Aquiline is preparing to drill the Dana Lake North platinum group element (PGE) property in the River Valley area, near Sudbury, Ont.

The company has entered into an agreement with Mustang Minerals (YMU-V), according to which it can earn a 70% stake in the property by spending $200,000 on exploration. Aquiline has arranged to have the deal extended until September 2003 in return for 200,000 shares.

Dana Lake North is contiguous to the Dana Lake PGE project held by a joint venture consisting of Pacific North West Capital (PFN-V) and Anglo Platinum. The latter is a subsidiary of South Africa’s Anglo American (AAUK-Q).

In other news, Aquiline has adopted a shareholder rights protection plan to ensure that any takeover bid for the company is for all of the issued and outstanding shares and that a bid is open for at least 60 days. The company says it is not aware of any such bid at present.

Finally, Aquiline has granted two members of its technical team 5-year options on 100,000 shares with an exercise price of 25 per share.

Sandwiched between GoldCorp‘s (G-T) Cochenour mine to the east and the Red Lake mine to the north, Southern Star Resources (YSO-V) has inked a deal to take a half-interest in Exall Resources‘ (EXL-T) Gold Eagle mine property.

To do so, Southern Star must pay Exall $160,000 in cash and issue 3 million shares over three years. Southern Star has also committed to sink $2 million into exploration over three years. Afterwards, the two will jointly manage the project.

Southern Star will also pay a finder’s fee of 125,00 units. A unit consists of one share plus a pair of share purchase warrants. Each warrant allows the holder to buy one share for 12 for two years. Northfield Capital (YFD.A-V) will receive 350,000 warrants exercisable at 12 for two years in return for backstopping the financing for the first year’s $350,000 work commitment.

Southern Star plans to begin exploring as soon as the deal is approved by regulators and by the directors of both companies.

A former producer, the Gold Eagle mine churned out 40,000 oz. gold between 1937 and 1941. The property has seen little exploration since the cessation of operations.

Southern Star is a wholly owned subsidiary of Golden Star Resources (GSC-T).