Newmont drops $275 million on northern BC project

Newmont Mining acquired a 50 per cent interest in the Galore Creek Partnership from NOVAGOLD Resources for $275 million.

Teck Resources owns the remaining stake.

The agreement encompasses several staged payments. There will a contingent investment of $275 million, with an initial payment of $100 million; a payment of $75 million on the earlier of prefeasibility study completion or three years from closing; and a payment of $25 million on the earlier of completing a feasibility study or five years from closing. A final $75 million payment would be contingent on a final decision to develop the project.

Galore Creek is located in northwestern British Columbia, Canada, approximately 150 kilometers northwest of Stewart and within the traditional territory of the Tahltan Nation.

A 2011 prefeasibility study put the project at a measured and indicated resource of 9 billion pounds of copper, 8 million ounces of gold, and 136 million ounces of silver.

Grades are 0.50 percent copper, 0.30 grams per tonne gold and 5.20 grams per tonne silver.

The Golden Triangle is an area in north western British Columbia north of Stewart and east of the Alaska Panhandle encompassing many major discoveries and mines.