A Denver-based mining company said last week it’s now positioned to fully fund the permitting process of the Mt. Hamilton gold project 40 miles west of Ely into 2015 if necessary.
Solitario Exploration and Royalty Corp. said it acquired an additional 13.6 million common shares in Ely Gold & Minerals, the Vancouver company that’s involved in a joint venture with Solitario to develop the Mt. Hamilton property.
After the transaction, Solitario now owns a 19.6 stake in Ely Gold.
Ely Gold, in turn, used $1.36 million from the Solitario investment to pay off Augusta Resource Corp. of Denver, the owner of the original lease on the Mt. Hamilton property.
Solitario, meanwhile, recently raised $3 million through a private placement. It also shut down exploration programs in Brazil and Bolivia and mothballed projects in Mexico and Peru so that it can devote full attention to Mt. Hamilton, said Solitario President Chris Herald.
Preliminary studies project production from Mt. Hamilton of 64,000 ounces a year over a nine- to 10-year life. Solitario has said it expects to invest $72 million to bring the mine into production in mid-2015.
NNBW staff
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