RE:Hail Mary needed Dr. Tom Morris's Northern Superior Resources Inc. (SUP) adopted the classic Howe Street spin for the loss of an exploration partner. Yamana Gold Inc. (YRI) has decided not to continue with its earn-in on the TPK property in Northern Ontario. Northern Superior had granted Yamana the option to earn a 70-per-cent interest in TPK a year ago. To earn its interest, Yamana agreed to spend $10-million on exploration, including $2-million in the first year, and pay $1-million in stages to Northern Superior. Yamana spent the $2-million but it apparently decided that what it found does not warrant spending another $2-million over the coming year.
Dr. Morris, Superior's president and CEO, says that as much as he would have liked Yamana to have continued on with its option, its decision to opt out provides an opportunity for others to participate -- take a deep breath here -- in this unique, camp-scale, regional mineral exploration play in a stable exploration and mining-friendly jurisdiction. (Dr. Morris calls on another Howe Street tactic: The deeper the disappointment, the deeper the pool of supporting adjectives must be.) In any case, most investors appear underwhelmed at the opportunity: Northern Superior did gain 2.5 cents to 12 cents today, but on just 14,000 shares.
Northern Superior has been promoting TPK since 2007, when it acquired an option to earn a 50-per-cent interest from Lake Shore Gold Corp. The project was then called Canopener, but Dr. Morris and his company quickly rechristened it Ti-pa-haa-kaa-ning, now usually shortened in most cases -- mercifully -- to TPK. In addition to vowels and dashes, TPK has had more than its share of failed partners, starting with Lake Shore Gold, which sold its remaining 50-per-cent interest to Northern Superior in 2010. Rainy River Resources Ltd. arrived soon thereafter, but it backed out of its option in 2012.