Mining News: Northern Neighbors: Seabridge buys SnipGold; Iskut, KSM drilling begins

Seabridge Gold Inc. June 21 said it has purchased all of the outstanding shares of SnipGold Corp. in an all-share arrangement announced in April. To complete the acquisition, Seabridge issued 695,277 shares, at an exchange ratio of one Seabridge share for 63 outstanding SnipGold shares. Up to roughly 60,550 additional Seabridge shares may be issuable upon exercise of outstanding options and warrants originally issued by SnipGold, but now exercisable to acquire Seabridge shares. As a result of the acquisition, Seabridge now owns the Iskut project, a roughly 286-square-kilometer (110 square miles) contiguous block of ground located near Seabridge’s KSM project in the Golden Triangle region of northwestern British Columbia. On June 22, the company outlined its exploration plans for both properties. At KSM, the company plans to complete 10,000 meters of core drilling designed to expand the block cave shapes that confine the current resource estimate for the Deep Kerr deposit. “Our geological team believes the mineralized zone on the west limb of the Deep Kerr deposit projects to the south. Extending the footprint of the proposed block cave shapes in this direction should enable us to increase the potential mining rate for Deep Kerr higher grade material,” said Seabridge Chairman and CEO Rudi Fronk. Drilling also will target the less-explored eastern limb of the Deep Kerr deposit to test its potential expansion at depth. At Iskut, the company is planning 3,000 meters of core drilling that will target the high-grade gold. “This year’s objective is to determine which of the many known targets has the best potential, in preparation for a much larger program next year,” Fronk added.

-Shane Lasley