Mining’s old guard needs strong medicine
A new report details subpar investor returns in the mining industry over the last decade, particularly big cap diversified companies which have not adapted to new realities.
MONTREAL, QUEBEC–(Marketwire – Dec. 9, 2011) –Golden Share Mining Corporation (“Golden Share”)(TSX VENTURE:GSH) is pleased to announce it has entered into an option agreement dated December 8, 2011 with Viking Gold Exploration Inc. (“Viking”) to acquire a 50% interest in the 16 claim, 30.9 km² Larose Gold Property (“Larose”) located in the Shebandowan area of northwestern Ontario, Canada.
Larose is situated in the western portion of the Shebandowan belt, approximately 40 km west of Golden Share’s Shebandowan project. The property is mostly underlain by metasedimentary rocks, mainly greywacke and argillite, which have been intruded by various plutonic rocks with the most prominent of these in the area being the Moss Lake and Obadinaw syenite stocks. Gold mineralization is associated with the Larose shear zone (“LSZ”), a major northeast trending shear up to 25 m wide, that can be identified across the entire property over 9 km and which has so far been systematically traced through surface exposures over 4 km.
The LSZ hosts quartz veins, stockworks and sulphide disseminations in altered greywacke which show very high gold grades locally. Previous operator, Freewest Resources Canada Inc. (“Freewest”), reported grades up to 371.9 g/t Au from surface rock sampling on the P1 trench. Freewest executed surface programs comprising prospecting, mapping, surface geophysics and trenching from 2003 to 2004. Limited diamond drilling showed gold mineralization to be persistent at depth with intercepts such as 8.74 g/t Au over 2 m and 1.95 g/t Au over 5 m.
Viking acquired Larose from Freewest, now Cliffs Chromite Ontario Inc., earlier this year. Viking is a technically focused exploration company with Dr. John Hansuld and Mr. Mackenzie Watson holding key positions, respectively Chairman and Strategic Advisor. Mr. Watson was awarded Canada’s Prospector of the Year Award in 1991 for his participation in the discovery of a number of deposits in Canada. Dr. Hansuld was named “Mining Man of the year” in 1988 by “The Northern Miner”, “Developer of the Year” in 1989 by the PDAC and is being inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame in January 2012.
President and Chief Executive Officer Philippe Giaro commented:
“We are pleased to enter into this agreement with Viking which allows us to leverage our strategic geographic position in the Shebandowan camp while targeting a specific rock sequence of the Shebandowan belt which has been totally overlooked. We are also delighted to be working with Dr. John Hansuld and Mr. Watson, two very well respected and successful gentlemen of the Canadian mining industry. The Larose property is located 8 km west of Moss Lake’s 1.6 Moz Au deposit in totally unexplored sedimentary units. Following an initial prospecting discovery, Freewest demonstrated the potential of the LSZ but with the Ring of Fire chromite discovery and subsequent Take Over of the company, Freewest had to shift its focus away from Larose which has seen less than 3,000 m of drilling in its entire history. The sedimentary rock package and the association of the gold with syenitic type intrusives are very reminiscent of the Malartic and Timmins mining camps. We very much look forward to working with the Viking team to further unlock the potential of this promising property.”
Golden Share can acquire a 50% interest in Larose over three years by meeting the following conditions :
Following the acquisition of a 50% interest by Golden Share, a joint venture (JV) will be formed between Viking and Golden Share to further develop the property. A 3.5% NSR is payable to previous owners, 1.5% of which can be bought back for the sum of $500,000 per each 0.5% increment, or $1,500,000 for the 1.5% NSR.
Golden Share will shortly provide a detailed technical update on the Larose property. Additionally, Golden Share’s drilling program is on-going on the Shebandowan project and is now testing targets on the Band Ore property, object of a recent transaction with Lake Shore Gold Corp. Assays are pending from the recent first phase program on Pistol Lake.
About Golden Share Mining Corporation
Golden Share Mining Corporation is a Canadian-based mining exploration company developing a promising portfolio of properties in the greenstone belts of eastern Canada, namely in the Val d’Or-Malartic, Red Lake and Shebandowan areas.
Lake Shore Gold Corp. holds a strategic 27.2%* interest in Golden Share which is led by a technically focused management team strengthened by an experienced board of directors and a proven advisory board including successful geologists Roy Corrans and Sethu Raman as well as seasoned financier Anthony Frizelle.
Golden Share’s development strategy involves advancing a well balanced portfolio of gold properties in a politically stable environment with a history of gold endowment through systematic exploration, resource definition and acquisitions. Highlights of the current portfolio include:
| * Lake Shore Gold Corp. acquired direct ownership of a total of 21.69 million common shares of Golden Share representing 19.9 per cent of the outstanding shares, as well as warrants to acquire an additional 10,845,000 common shares of Golden Share (representing 9 per cent of the outstanding shares on a partially diluted basis) at an exercise price of 20 cents per common share |
| ** 2,857,200 MT @ 1.64 g/t Au at 1.00 g/t Au cut off |
| *** These estimates were executed prior to the introduction of National Instrument 43-101; hence they should be treated as historical data and therefore not be relied upon. |
| **** 536,500 MT @ 2.03 g/t Au at 1.00 g/t Au cut off |
Golden Share’s exploration programs are executed under the supervision of Mrs. Laurence Huss, M.Sc., P. Geo., a « Qualified Person » as defined in National Instrument 43-101, and Vice-president Exploration of Golden Share. Philippe Giaro, P.Geo., President and CEO of Golden Share and Qualified Person for Golden Share, has reviewed and approved the content of this release.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
