Within 15 days of signing the definitive agreement, NGM will reimburse a total of $372,763 to Ridgeline in consideration for recent overhead and work expenditures at Swift
Regional map of the Cortez district showing the Swift property adjacent to the Nevada Gold Mines owned Cortez Mine Complex. (Credit: Ridgeline Minerals)
Ridgeline Minerals Corp. (“Ridgeline” or the “Company”) (TSX-V: RDG | OTCQB: RDGMF | FRA: 0GC0) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a transaction with Nevada Gold Mines LLC (“NGM” or “Nevada Gold Mines”), a joint venture between Barrick Gold Corp. and Newmont Corp., pursuant to which NGM can acquire an interest in Ridgeline’s Swift gold project (“Swift”); a district-scale (75 km²) land package located in the prolific Cortez District of the Battle Mountain – Eureka Trend in Nevada. NGM can incur a minimum of US$ 20 million (of which US$ 4 million is guaranteed) in qualifying work expenditures over an initial five-year term to earn an initial 60% interest in Swift, and will have further options to increase its interest to a total 75% interest. NGM will assume operatorship of the project immediately. Highlights of the proposed earn-in agreement are outlined below.
Chad Peters, Ridgeline’s President, CEO & Director commented, “Our singular focus as a company is to create value per share through discovery and we are delighted to partner with the Nevada Gold Mines team as they apply their proven track record of discovery to the Swift gold project. Through this partnership, Ridgeline will significantly reduce the exploration risk inherent with deep drilling in Nevada, while retaining meaningful upside at Swift across all levels of project development moving forward.”
Earn-In Agreement Highlights
- Reimbursement of Prior Expenditures: Within 15 days of signing the definitive agreement, NGM will reimburse a total of $372,763 to Ridgeline in consideration for recent overhead and work expenditures at Swift.
- Initial Earn-In Option: NGM will assume operatorship of the project and can earn-in to a 60% interest in the project by incurring a minimum of $20 million in qualifying work expenditures over five years, including.
- $4 million in guaranteed work expenditures before December 31, 2023.
- $16 million in work expenditures and preparation of a technical report in compliance with the requirements of National Instrument 43-101 before December 31, 2026.
- NGM and Ridgeline will each elect two representatives to a Swift technical steering committee, which will meet quarterly to review budgets and exploration progress.
- Second Earn-In Option: NGM will retain a one-time option to earn an additional 10% interest in the project by sole-funding an additional $10 million in work expenditures before December 31, 2029.
- Development Funding Option: Within 90 days of a joint venture decision to proceed with development and construction of a mine and/or related processing facilities on Swift, NGM will have a one-time option to elect to provide, or arrange for third-party, financing of Ridgeline’s portion of debt financing required for the development in consideration, in either case, for an additional 5% interest in the project for a total of 75% (or 65% if the second option was not exercised).
Source: Company Press Release