Columbus Gold to launch $20M exploration and development program

Over the next 12 months, Columbus Gold (TSXV: CGT), a small junior with a market cap of just $64 million, will oversee the investment of $20 million on exploration and development at its two gold projects, Eastside in Nevada and Paul Isnard in French Guiana.

Half of that sum will come from Russia’s Nordgold (LSE: NORD), a company in which Russian billionaire Alexey Mordashov holds an 89% stake. In March 2014, Nordgold agreed to spend US$30 million on Columbus’ Paul Isnard, and complete a bankable feasibility study, to earn a 50.01% stake in the project.

Peter Ball, Columbus’ senior vice president, estimates that Nordgold spent about $11.8 million last year on the project's Montagne d'Or deposit in French Guiana, and by the end of 2015 will have spent a total of $27 million to $28 million of its committed funds. As operator, Columbus Gold charges Nordgold a 10% operator fee, and will earn $3 million in fees.

“It’s a win-win for Columbus,” Ball says, adding that Nordgold may have to spend additional funds to finish a bankable feasibility before March 2017. “They’re accelerating on all fronts,” he adds. “We’re one of their key projects.”

Read the complete article at NorthernMiner.com/news/columbus-gold