VANCOUVER, March 26, 2015 /CNW/ - Mirasol Resources Ltd.
("Mirasol" or the "Company", TSX-V: MRZ, Frankfurt: M8R)
Mirasol is pleased to announce it has signed a
joint venture agreement (the "Agreement") with Yamana Gold Inc.
("Yamana") granting Yamana the option to acquire up to a 75%
interest in the Gorbea Belt Projects ("the Project") (Figure 1).
The option granted to Yamana will be exercisable in three
stages over a seven year period.
- The joint venture agreement establishes Yamana as a
strategic partner in the exploration and potential development of
Mirasol's Gorbea Belt Projects, including the Atlas and Titan
projects
- The Agreement is subject to a 45 day due diligence review
period, and grants Yamana the option to acquire up to a 75%
interest in the Project over a seven year period.
- The first earn-in option to a 51% interest requires a spend
commitment of US$10,000,000 and cash
payments to Mirasol of US$2,000,000
over four years.
- The first year spend commitment is US$2,000,000, including geophysical surveys and
2,000 metres of exploration drilling at the Atlas and Titan
projects.
Stephen Nano, the
Chief Executive Officer of Mirasol, stated: "We are pleased that
Mirasol have partnered with Yamana which has agreed to commit
significant resources to the Gorbea Projects where recent
exploration by Mirasol has identified several compelling drill
targets at the Atlas and Titan projects. Yamana is an important
gold producer with operating mines in Mirasol's focus countries of
Chile and Argentina. Yamana
has also made a recent construction decision on its high grade gold
– silver Cerro Moro project in
Santa Cruz province Argentina, where Mirasol maintains a large
portfolio of drill ready projects. Further exploration updates will
be provided by Mirasol as exploration advances on the Gorbea
Projects."
William Wulftange,
Senior Vice President, Exploration of Yamana stated: "This
agreement underscores Yamana's commitment to explore and expand our
footprint in Chile, focusing on
high quality opportunities that can lead to long term growth.
Mirasol has an excellent track record of grassroots exploration and
mineral discovery in South
America, and I look forward to working with Stephen and his
team on the Gorbea Belt Projects and similar opportunities that can
fuel Yamana's exploration project pipeline."
The Agreement, which is subject to a 45 day due
diligence review by Yamana, grants Yamana the option to acquire a
51% interest by incurring annual staged expenditures totaling
US$10,000,000 and payments to Mirasol
totaling US$2,000,000 over a four
year period. The first earn-in option includes committed
expenditures of US$2,000,000 by the
first anniversary of which not less than US$1,200,000 must be spent at the Atlas project
and US$600,000 at the Titan project.
The first-year program includes an exploration commitment of
electrical ground-based geophysical surveys and 2,000 metres of
drilling at the Projects.
Yamana may exercise the second earn-in option to
increase its interest to 65% within the subsequent two year period
by completing an independent technical report in accordance with NI
43-101. A qualifying independent technical report will
include a preliminary economic assessment based on an indicated
mineral resource estimate of more than 1,000,000 ounces of gold,
using a 0.3 gram per tonne of gold cut-off grade.
Yamana may exercise the third earn-in option to
increase its interest to 75% by completing an independent
feasibility level study, or equivalent, in accordance with NI
43-101 and making a "decision to mine" within an additional
one-year period.
Subject to a decision to mine and a request by
Mirasol, Yamana will provide financing to Mirasol for its 25% share
of the development costs. Mine financing will be on
commercial terms with interest calculated at LIBOR+3%.
Mirasol's share of the mine development costs will be repaid from
50% of Mirasol's share of the cash flow from its interest in the
mine.
The Agreement also provides Yamana the
opportunity to extend the earn-in periods, subject to certain
limitations, for up to three years by paying Mirasol US$500,000 per extension-year.
The Agreement provides Mirasol the right,
exercisable at the 65% or 75% earn-in stages, to convert up to 9%
of its equity position into a 3% net smelter return ("NSR")
royalty, and retain a participating equity position in the Project.
Yamana retains a pre-emptive right to purchase from Mirasol a
0.5% NSR royalty, leaving Mirasol with 2.5% NSR royalty with the
purchase price set by a third-party independent valuation process.
In that event, Mirasol's residual 2.5% NSR royalty is not
subject to any further pre-emptive rights.
The Gorbea projects comprise nine 100%-owned
claim blocks totaling approximately 20,700 ha located in the
Miocene age mineral belt of northern Chile. The Gorbea projects include
Mirasol's Atlas and Titan high-sulfidation gold and silver projects
(see news releases dated December
10th 2014, July
23rd 2014 and November
25th 2013) and seven other early-stage
exploration prospects covering portions of prospective alteration
systems.
Stephen Nano,
President and CEO is the Qualified Person under NI 43-101 who has
prepared and approves the technical content of this news
release.
Email: contact@mirasolresources.com
Website: www.mirasolresources.com
Quality Assurance/Quality Control of exploration
programs:
Exploration at the project was supervised by
Stephen C. Nano, President and CEO,
who is the Qualified Person under NI 43-101, Timothy Heenan, Exploration Manager, and
Leandro Echavarria, Mirasol's
Principal Geologist. All technical information for the
project was obtained and reported under a formal quality assurance
and quality control (QA/QC) program. Rock channel and rock chip
samples were collected under the supervision of Company geologists
in accordance with standard industry practice. Samples were
dispatched via commercial transport to an ISO 9001:2000-accredited
laboratory in Chile for analysis.
Results of this exploration program are routinely independently
reviewed to confirm the Company's QA/QC process/procedures and
laboratory performance meet required standards.
Assay results from surface samples may be higher,
lower or similar to results obtained from drilling due to surficial
oxidation and enrichment processes or due to natural geological
grade variations in the primary mineralization.
Forward Looking Statements: The above contains
forward looking statements that are subject to a number of known
and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause
actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in our
forward looking statements. Factors that could cause such
differences include: changes in world commodity markets, equity
markets, costs and supply of materials relevant to the mining
industry, change in government and changes to regulations affecting
the mining industry. Forward-looking statements in this release
include statements regarding future exploration programs, operation
plans, geological interpretations, mineral tenure issues and
mineral recovery processes. Although we believe the expectations
reflected in our forward looking statements are reasonable, results
may vary, and we cannot guarantee future results, levels of
activity, performance or achievements.
Neither the 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.
SOURCE Mirasol Resources Ltd.