American Eagle Gold (AE-V) word of a Heavy Hitter. The Co. has sold 14.4 million shares to Teck Resources (TECK.B-T) for 20.5 cents apiece. Well, not exactly: American is selling flow-through shares at that price, and Teck will subsequently pay 13 cents apiece for the underlying stock. American Eagle has not explained the reasoning for the odd arrangement, but it presumably leaves the tax credits associated with the flow-through shares with another party, while Teck gets the shares. The new cash -- American Eagle gets nearly $3-million, while Teck gets a 15-per-cent interest in American Eagle for just under $1.9-million in hard dollars -- is for work at the NAK project in northwestern British Columbia.
Mr. Moreau, American Eagle's chief executive officer, was "very pleased" to welcome Teck as a "strategic investor." He cheers the investment by Teck, a company he applauds as "Canada's pre-eminent copper producer," as one that affirms the value his team sees in NAK, adding that it solidifies American Eagle's drilling and exploration plans for this year. Mr. Moreau says his company is looking to follow last year's broad intercepts of gold and copper porphyry mineralization by expanding the known footprint through more drilling, while seeking the high-grade source of the mineralization.
Shallow drilling years ago identified an area at least 1,500 metres square with near-surface copper and gold. Last year, American Eagle scored hits of 0.19 gram of gold and 1.3 grams of silver per tonne plus 0.2 per cent copper over a 956-metre interval, while a second, 851-metre hit, managed comparable grades. Both long intervals had near-surface zones with higher gold grades, including a 135-metre hit in the latter hole that averaged 0.96 gram of gold and 1.41 grams of silver per tonne plus 0.27 per cent copper.
Thanks to the Teck investment, American Eagle's proposed 6,000-metre drill program at NAK is now fully financed. The work, Mr. Moreau says, will start in June with stepout holes both east and west to "begin to delineate the true size of this potential deposit." As well, he says, the drillers will be looking to expand the known footprint of the high-grade, at-surface gold zone in the southern area of the footprint.
Business Reporter |
