GOLD: NAP sells gold division to Maudore for cash, shares

QUEBEC – North American Palladium (NAP) of Toronto has sold its gold division, NAP Quebec Mines, to Maudore Minerals for $18 million in cash and 1.5 million Maudore shares. The deal includes the Vezza mine, the Sleeping Giant mine and mill, and a number of nearby exploration properties.

NAP now plans to focus its energies on the Lac des Iles palladium mine and mill expansion and operation.

Maudore says the deal allows it to advance its position in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt. The former IamGold employees will join the Maudore payroll.

The Sleeping Giant mill is designed to operate at a rate of 900 t/d, and is currently processing between 400 and 600 t/d, five days per week from the underground Vezza gold project as it continues to ramp up. In 2010, NAP determined that the mill could be upgraded in two phases from 900 to 1,250 t/d, and then from 1,250 to 1,750 t/d. NAP initiated the upgrade and later put the expansion on hold. Maudore expects that the adjacent tailings facility could last approximately 10 years at the higher throughput rate with expansion.

Go to Maudore.com to learn about all of Maudore's projects in the region.