SILVER - Hecla Mining Company June 27 said it extended the deadline to close on the sale of its subsidiaries engaged in Venezuelan activities to Rusoro Mining Ltd. The date, originally set for June 27, was extended until July 8 to allow additional time to receive regulatory approval on the transaction. If approved, Rusoro will acquire Hecla’s Venezuelan subsidiaries for $25 million, consisting of $20 million in cash and 4,273,504 shares of Rusoro common stock. Hecla President and CEO Phil Baker said, “The sale of our Venezuelan properties is part of our strategy towards reducing the financing put in place to acquire Green’s Creek.”
GOLD - New Gold Inc. June 30 said it Has completed a $1.6 billion business combination with Peak Gold Ltd. and Metallica Resources Inc. “Management is excited at the prospects for this new intermediate gold mining company and is looking forward to creating further value for shareholders by focusing on three strategies: routine delivery on our operational targets; execution of our internal growth projects, which are the development of New Afton mine and the analysis of processing alternatives at Amapari; and continued external growth through consolidation of operations in the junior mining sector,” said New Gold President and CEO Robert Gallagher.
COPPER/MOLYBDENUM - Taseko Mines Ltd. June 26 said it finalized negotiations for the purchase of key mining and milling equipment required for a phase 3 expansion planned for the Gibraltar copper-molybdenum mine in northern British Columbia. The equipment should be delivered and operating by mid-2010, and ensure Gibraltar’s production capacity will be increased to 85,000 tons per day in late 2010, just in time for forecasted high copper prices. The upgrade also will significantly improve molybdenum production, increasing annual output by 3.5 million pounds, Taseko said.
DIAMOND - Stornoway Diamond Corp. and Shear Minerals Ltd. June 26 reported results from its 2007 exploration program at the Churchill Diamond project in Nunavut. Lab analysis defined 35 unsourced, high-interest indicator mineral dispersions; a tailings audit with recovery of additional diamonds that increases diamond grade to 1.04 carats per metric ton; and confirmation that diamond fragments from the Kahuna bulk sample are part of a larger single 13.42 carat diamond. Overall, 97 percent of the 2007 samples were positive for indicator minerals with a total of 10,089 kimberlite indicator mineral grains recovered.
DIAMOND - Indicator Minerals Inc. June 26 said its partner Teck Cominco Ltd. has initiated a 2008 field program on the Darby Diamond Project in Nunavut. Teck aims to achieve 100 percent geophysical coverage of the property to generate new targets and advance priority kimberlite targets to drill-ready stage. A 16,000-line-kilometer, detailed helicopter-borne survey will extend geophysical coverage to the western mineral claims acquired by the partners in 2006. Till samples collected in 2007 returned compelling kimberlite indicator mineral chemistry. Teck Cominco can earn a 51 percent interest in Darby by spending $14 million before June 2010.
COPPER/GOLD - BCGold Corp. June 24 said field crews have begun work on its Carmacks copper-gold properties near the Minto Mine and Western Copper Corp.’s Carmacks copper-gold deposits in central Yukon. Following up on 2007 airborne surveying, initial exploration will include geological mapping, sampling and prospecting, plus 77 line kilometers of induced polarization surveys on six properties and 91 line kilometers of Mobile Metal Ion surveys on nine properties. A diamond drill program is set to start in late August. Aurora Geosciences Ltd., Mira Geoscience Ltd. and Kluane Drilling Ltd. are contractors for the project.
COPPER/GOLD - Firestone Ventures Inc. June 27 said shareholders approved its plan to spin off to Northern Tiger Resources Inc. the junior’s Yukon properties in cooperation with Minto Explorations Ltd., a subsidiary of Sherwood Copper Corp. MintoEx also transferred to Northern Tiger 100 percent interest in five Dawson Range exploration properties with copper-gold mineralization and an extensive historical exploration database. Firestone said Northern Tiger raised more than C$2.26 million in a private placement, primarily to fund exploration. Northern Tiger also issued about 4.34 million shares, valued at C30 cents each, to MintoEx.
