ONTARIO – Centerra Gold of Toronto is picking up its first Canadian project by forming a 50:50 partnership with Premier Gold Mines. The two will jointly own and develop Premier's Trans-Canada property including the Hardrock gold project in the Geraldton-Beardmore Greenstone Belt.
The Trans-Canada property is located about 250 km northeast of Thunder Bay and 2 km from Geraldton. Premier has begun a feasibility study on the Hardrock claims. The deposit has an indicated resource of 89.04 million tonnes at 1.70 g/t Au and an indicated resource of 23.15 million tonnes at 3.69 g/t Au. The categories contain an estimated 4.87 million oz and 2.74 million oz of gold, respectively. Other deposits on the property include Brookbank, Kaily and Key Lake, and there are also several other gold targets.
The joint venture agreement says that Centerra will contribute up to $300 million in cash to the partnership and Premier will contribute all property, assets and the rights it holds. Centerra will make an initial cash payment of $85 million. That company will contribute another $185 million in capital toward the completion of a feasibility study for Hardrock. Premier will not be required to make any contributions during this time. The agreement is expected to close early in March.
Previously, Centerra (CenterraGold.com) built two gold mines in Asia and is developing a third. The Kumtor mine in the Kyrgyz Republic has produced more than 9.9 million oz of gold between start-up in 1997 and the end of last year. The Boroo mine in Mongolia (the only hard rock mine in that country) has produced 1.8 million oz of gold, but it has recently completed processing its low grade stockpiles. The mill will be used to treat ore from the nearby Gatsuurt property as soon as final approvals are received for the new mine. Centerra also has exploration properties in Nevada, Russia and Turkey.
Please visit PremierGoldMines.com for additional information about the Trans-Canada property.
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