FINANCE – Comstock Metals Ltd. Dec. 30 said it intends to settle an aggregate of C$484,000 of indebtedness through the issuance of an aggregate of 8,066,667 common shares at a deemed price of C6 cents per common share. The transaction remains subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval. All common shares issued pursuant to the transaction will be subject to a hold period of four months and one day from the date of issuance.
SILVER/LEAD/ZINC – Alexco Resource Corp. Dec. 23 released an updated NI 43-101-compliant preliminary economic assessment for its Keno Hill Silver District in Canada’s Yukon Territory. This PEA consolidates into one report updated information related to construction and operation of a new underground mine at the Flame & Moth silver deposit, and includes current resource statements for the Bellekeno, Lucky Queen, Onek and Bermingham deposits. The PEA was compiled by SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc. with contributions from a team of qualified persons, and assesses an operations expansion for production of silver, lead, zinc and gold in the Keno Hill Silver District. The PEA reflects one of a number of production strategies being considered in the eastern Keno Hill Silver District. Alexco President and Chief Executive Officer Clynt Nauman said, “We are continuing to optimize our work in the KHSD, which is anticipated to lead to a further technical report for Keno Hill with updated resource statements for the Flame & Moth and Bermingham deposits based on surface-related exploration work completed in 2014, results which are not yet available and therefore not reflected in this PEA.” Nauman also said, "Earlier in 2013, in the face of declining silver prices and reduced operating margins, we elected to suspend winter operations at our Bellekeno mine and mill facilities at Keno Hill. We did so with the knowledge that we had a rapidly growing silver resource at the Flame & Moth deposit, and that a revised operations strategy was required to integrate production from known and previously developed deposits (i.e. Bellekeno, Lucky Queen) with the new and larger but as yet undeveloped Flame & Moth deposit. In addition, simple economics drove us to develop a plan that fully utilized our mill capacity when re-initiating silver production. To do that, the PEA outlines a strategy to firstly develop the Flame & Moth mine and then initiate silver production with ore feed from Flame & Moth and Bellekeno, and later in the plan replace Bellekeno supplemental ore feed with ore from the Lucky Queen deposit.” Nauman continued, “Subsequent to the publication of the initial PEA last December, in 2014 Alexco mobilized an expanded exploration program to further evaluate extensions to the Flame & Moth deposit. Results of this work will be incorporated in further optimization studies. Clearly, the Flame & Moth deposit is emerging as a cornerstone asset in the Keno Hill Silver District and will potentially anchor future production well into the 2020’s. Furthermore, our recent exploration successes in the Bermingham area give us more encouragement that the potential resource pipeline in the KHSD will continue to grow as our work and understanding of the ore controls in the District become more sophisticated.” The PEA reflects one of a number of Keno Hill production strategies being considered by Alexco. Work is ongoing to optimize various aspects of this project, taking into account new pricing and costing bases in combination with emerging exploration results. As with most relatively smaller, higher grade deposits, consolidated mine economics are sensitive to commodity price, foreign exchange, the tenor and grade of ore delivered to the mill, and the efficiency with which the mill operates. Equally important, the company plans to continue its successful exploration strategy to expand resource inventory in the district as a whole.
FINANCE – Copper North Mining Corp. Dec. 23 reported that it completed the over-subscribed, flow-through portion of a non-brokered private placement announced in November and revised Dec.19, 2014. The company issued 9,639,666 flow-through shares at a price of C6 cents per flow-through share for aggregate gross proceeds of C$578,380 on Dec. 22, 2014. The company paid aggregate finders’ fees of C$42,509 in cash and 687,483 finders’ warrants. Each finder’s warrant entitles the holder to purchase one additional common share of the company at a price of C6 cents until Dec. 22, 2016. All flow-through shares, finders’ warrants and any shares issued upon exercise of finders’ warrants are subject to a hold period and as such may not be traded until April 23, 2015.
