Gold exploration gets bump on Baffin Island
Kivalliq Energy picks up new property from Commander Resources
Michele LeTourneau
Northern News Services
Saturday, May 13, 2017
KANGIQTUGAAPIK/CLYDE RIVER
Kivalliq Energy Corp., a Vancouver based exploration company, acquired Commander Resources Ltd.'s Baffin Island gold property, it announced May 8.
Kivalliq Energy Corp., a Vancouver-based exploration company, acquired Commander Resources Ltd.'s Baffin Island gold property last week, including a financial agreement with Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. to explore on Inuit-owned lands. - photo courtesy of Kivalliq Energy Corp.
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Commander acquired the property in 2003, when it signed agreements with Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) to explore for gold and other commodities on three parcels of land - Qimmiq, Dewar and Bravo Lake.
In late 2004, Commander stated, "There are strong indications from the work completed this year that the discovery of a new gold district, with the potential to host one or more high-grade gold deposits, is underway on Baffin Island."
The 408,981-hectare property, covering 160 km of the Foxe fold belt is located roughly 230 km southwest of Clyde River, and includes 15 prospecting permits, six Crown mineral claims, and two mineral exploration agreements with NTI on Inuit-owned land.
"With the acquisition of the Baffin gold project in Nunavut, we have strengthened our relationship with NTI and we now hold an entire district with proven gold potential," stated Kivalliq Energy chairman and CEO Jim Paterson.
"Our team will benefit greatly from the significant exploration expenditures from previous operators, which generated extremely high-grade gold numbers at exploration targets that also exhibited potential for significant size and scale. We feel the combination of the Baffin gold project's key attributes, including: low entry cost; high potential for discovery and expansion of known gold zones; in a mining-friendly jurisdiction, make this a highly valuable acquisition for the shareholders of Kivalliq. Our group has multi-decades of experience running successful Northern projects and the Baffin gold property is a great addition to the Kivalliq portfolio."
The deal includes more than $25 million of exploration data and extensive geoscience databases from BHP-Billiton, Falconbridge, Commander Resources and AngloGold Ashanti exploration programs performed between 2001 and 2011.
"An existing camp, tidewater access and two 1,200m DEW Line airstrips will help to accelerate future work programs and potential development," the release states.
Under terms of the exploration agreement, NTI is set to receive:
- annual fees and exploration work commitments;
- $1 million and $5.5 million cash payments upon demonstrating NI 43-101 compliant measured resources of 1 million and 5 million ounces of gold, respectively;
- $3 million and $5 million cash payments with the commencement of a feasibility study and at commercial production respectively;
- $50,000 annual advanced royalty payments after both a measured resource of 1 million ounces gold and a positive feasibility study is attained; and
- at commercial production, an underlying 12 per cent net profits royalty payable on exploration areas, with deductions not to exceed 70 per cent of gross revenues.
