Update on Royalties Fosterville (2% NSR Royalty) I really think kirkland should make a move here. They should buy out ami, and sell the parts they dont need. They might even get the NSR on fosterville back for nearly free, if they split up all ami's assets and sell them...
They just did this: "Buy-back of 1% net smelter return ("NSR") royalty on the Company's land holdings in the Kirkland Lake camp, reducing the royalty rate on gold revenue at Macassa from 2.5% to 1.5%."
TORONTO , March 29, 2017 /CNW/ - AuRico Metals Inc. (AMI.TO),("AuRico" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an update on its royalty portfolio, highlighting significant increases in mineral reserves and resources at Fosterville , Hemlo , and Eagle River , and further developments relating to the Company's royalty pipeline.
"We're very happy to see that ongoing exploration efforts at Fosterville and Hemlo have yielded 66% and 73% increases, respectively, in mineral reserves at these operations," commented Chris Richter , President and CEO of AuRico Metals. "The significant growth in reserves and resources at operations underlying our royalties underscore the high quality nature of our royalty portfolio."
Fosterville (2% NSR Royalty)
On March 28 , Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd. ("Kirkland") announced that updated mineral reserves at the Fosterville gold mine increased by 66%, to 643,000 ounces of gold, after depletion, accompanied by a 27% increase in grade to 9.2 g/t Au from the prior year estimate. Measured and Indicated mineral resources, inclusive of reserves, increased by 23% to 2,790,000 ounces of gold accompanied by a 25% increase in grade to 5.7 g/t Au.
As stated in Kirkland's press release dated March 28, 2017 , the significant increase in mineral reserves is underpinned by down-plunge extensions of the high-grade, visible gold-bearing Lower Phoenix Gold Zone and the discovery of visible gold-bearing Harrier Zone. Fosterville continues to maintain a large underlying mineral resource base that is expected to support future additions to mineral reserves, with potential to further extend the current known mineral resource following ongoing surface and underground drilling, testing near-mine gold systems up and down-plunge from current mineral reserves and resources.
The Fosterville Gold Mine is 100% owned by Kirkland . Separate from the Fosterville mine, Kirkland also holds exploration licenses covering an area over 500 km2, encompassing the entire known strike extent of the Fosterville Goldfield. AuRico's 2% net smelter return (NSR) royalty is payable over all of this ground.
For more information and complete reserve and resource details see Kirkland's press release dated March 28, 2017 and visit the website at www.klgold.com.
Hemlo (0.25% NSR Royalty on Williams Mine, and 1.5% NSR on David Bell Property)
On February 15 , Barrick Gold announced a 73% increase in mineral reserves at Hemlo from 917,000 ounces of gold at the end of 2015 to 1,588,000 ounces at the end of 2016, after mining depletion. Measured and Indicated mineral resources, exclusive of reserves, increased 19% to 1,720,000 ounces of gold. Annual production at Hemlo totaled 235,000 ounces of gold in 2016, representing an increase of 7% from the prior year.
Barrick Gold's 2017 guidance for Hemlo is 205,000 to 220,000 ounces at all-in sustaining cash costs of $880-$980 per ounce.
For more information, visit Barrick Gold's website at www.barrick.com.
Eagle River (0.5% NSR Royalty)
On February 22 , Wesdome Gold Mines ("Wesdome") announced a 15% increase in mineral reserves at Eagle River from 300,000 ounces of gold at the end of 2015 to 344,000 ounces of gold at the end of 2016, after mining depletion.
Wesdome has stated that it will continue its focus on development into higher grade areas of the Eagle River Underground Mine with initial stope production from the 7 Zone which commenced in Q4 2016, well ahead of schedule. This will enable stope production from multiple high grade areas within the Eagle River Mine earlier than expected.
For more information, see Wesdome's press release dated February 22, 2017 and visit the website at www.wesdome.com.
Exploration Joint Venture Agreement at Kliyul with First Quantum Minerals Ltd ("First Quantum")
On March 8 , AuRico closed the acquisition of Kiska Metals adding six additional royalties to the Company's portfolio as well as six wholly-owned properties with the potential for organic royalty creation. On March 17 , AuRico entered into a binding Letter Agreement with First Quantum for one of these properties, Kliyul, located in British Columbia , approximately 50 km south of AuRico's Kemess property.
Under the terms of the agreement, First Quantum has 12 months to evaluate the Kliyul project. It can then choose to enter into an Option to earn a 51% interest by incurring a minimum of C$5 million of expenditures on the project prior to December 31, 2021 . First Quantum's interest will increase by a further 29% (80% total) when a decision to mine is made. Upon a decision to mine, AuRico will be entitled to receive advance royalty payments of C$2 million per year until the commencement of commercial production, and will retain a 0.5% NSR royalty once production commences.