Batero Gold Corp. (
TSX: V.BAT,
Stock Forum) said that concession contract 18567 is now formally and officially registered by the National Mining Agency of Colombia (ANM).
This concession is part of the block of three concessions comprising the company's 100% owned Batero-Quinchia project in Risaralda, Colombia.
According to the
Batero Gold press release, registration of the remaining concession, 22159, is expected in the coming weeks. Concession contract 22270, the third concession of the block, was registered during October 2005 for 30 years.
"We are pleased that we have progressed from a shorter term exploration license to a 28 year concession agreement for exploitation, with the right to extend the exploitation term an additional 30 years on request and once the initial period has vested,” said Darryl Lindsay, Interim Chief Executive Officer. “ANM has registered this concession agreement 18567, one of three concession titles comprising the Batero-Quinchia project and covering the mineralization from La Cumbre through El Centro to Dos Quebradas. This provides the company and investors with long term stability for the development of the La Cumbre oxide deposit, the larger Batero-Quinchia project and to explore the gold-copper potential remaining within the project area."
Additionally, progress towards completion of the preliminary economic assessment (PEA) on the La Cumbre oxide deposit is proceeding well. The PEA will include an updated mineral resource estimate for the entire Batero-Quinchia deposit as well as a potential economically extractable mineral resource for the oxide, mixed and primary material within a first stage development plan at the La Cumbre deposit.
The PEA will include metallurgical and geotechnical study results to date and recommendations for the next stage of work. The company has just started the review process and anticipates the PEA to be press released in the fourth quarter of 2013.
The company is in the process of establishing a CEO search committee involving an independent industry professional to undertake a formal search for an appropriate candidate for CEO considering the company's current projection towards advancing the La Cumbre Oxide project and assessing other near term mining opportunities in Colombia and Latin America in general. This process is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2014.
Batero is a precious and base metals exploration and development company.
On Wednesday, Batero rose 3.7% and was trading at $0.14 a share. The company had a market cap of $12.4 million, based on 88.4 million shares outstanding.