| Story Views | |
| Now: | |
| Last Hour: | |
| Last 24 Hours: | |
| Total: | |
Golden Arrow and Silver Standard tie the knot
The combination of Golden Arrow Resources Corp’s (CVE:GRG) Chinchillas project with Silver Standard Resources Inc’s (TSE:SSO, NASDAQ:SSRI) Pirquitas mine is to go ahead.
After extending the deadline by a day Golden Arrow announced that Silver Standard had exercised its option on the Chinchillas project.
The two companies will form a joint venture to combine the Chinchillas project, which is in development, with the Pirquitas mine, which is in production.
Silver Standard will be the operator of the combined assets, with a 75% stake in the joint venture (JV); Golden Arrow will have a 25% stake,
“This is a landmark achievement for our company,” said Joseph Grosso, executive chairman, president and chief executive officer of Golden Arrow.
As Chinchillas makes the transition from an exploration discovery into a mining operation, “our shareholders stand to benefit from this profile and strengthened financial position,” Grosso said.
The deal has been a long time in the making, with the details of the proposed combination first published back in September 2015.
Grosso thanked shareholders for their patience.
Construction work on Chinchillas is slates to start in the third quarter of this year. Ore delivery to the mill should start in the second half of next year.
Subject to permitting and closing of the transaction, Silver Standard has approved the development decision on the Chinchillas project, Golden Arrow said.
The permitting process continues to advance with positive support from the local communities and government authorities, it added.
The Chinchillas Environmental and Social Impact Assessment has been prepared and submitted to the Argentine regulatory authorities, and is in the consultation process. Work is in progress with local communities on social programs and understanding of the Chinchillas project as it advances to production.
Earlier in the day the two companies agreed to extend the deadline by which Silver Standard could exercise its option by one day, which proved long enough to get it done.
The Pirquitas mine is located in the Province of Jujuy, northern Argentina.
It is positioned at an elevation of 4,100 meters above sea level and is accessible by all-weather roads.
The mine achieved commercial production on December 1, 2009.
It is an open-pit mine using a fleet of 100-tonne trucks and three loading units. Ore is crushed and treated in a gravity pre-concentrator prior to processing in a conventional mineral flotation plant. The silver concentrate produced from the plant is shipped to third party smelters.
Golden Arrow holds a 100% interest in the Chinchillas project, which hosts a resource of 100 million ounces of silver / 155 million ounces silver equivalent (AgEq) in the measured & indicated categories, and 44 million ounces silver /90 million ounces AgEq in the Inferred category.
Chinchillas has near-surface mineralization providing the potential for an open-pit mining scenario, plus conventional metallurgy that has shown high recoveries of silver lead and zinc to concentrates in bench-scale testing.
Shares in Golden Arrow surged 22.9% to C$0.86 on the news. Silver Standard rose 1.8% t0 C$14.12.
—More to follow—
Story by ProactiveInvestors
Source: http://www.proactiveinvestors.com/companies/news/175773/golden-arrow-and-silver-standard-tie-the-knot-175773.html
