El Salvador president proposes bill to overturn metals mining ban
In 2017, El Salvador became the first country in the world to ban forms of metals mining.
Gran Colombia Gold (TSX: GCM) announced Tuesday that it has entered into a letter of intent (LOI) with Western Atlas Resources (TSXV: WA) to spin off its Venezuelan assets into a separately listed vehicle.
Under the terms of the LOI, Gran Colombia will receive $20 million in common shares of Western Atlas in exchange for the mining rights to the Lo Increible 4A and Lo Increible 4B concessions near the town of El Callao, Bolivar State, Venezuela. A Gran Colombia subsidiary is in the process of seeking their restitution by the current interim government of Venezuela.
Gran Colombia would also acquire up to a 19.9% equity interest in Western Atlas by way of a C$1.4 million subscription into Western Atlas’ proposed private placement.
Serafino Iacono, executive chairman of Gran Colombia, currently serves as non-executive chairperson and controls about 21% of the outstanding shares of Western Atlas.
Western Atlas owns the Meadowbank project in Nunavut, located immediately adjacent to Agnico Eagle’s Meadowbank producing gold mine and its Amaruq gold deposit.
Gran Colombia’s primary focus is in Colombia. The company is currently the largest underground gold and silver producer in the nation thanks to its Segovia and Marmato operations.
