Harte Gold is digging up more than precious metals in northwestern Ontario.
The White River junior miner has announced $25 million in financing to advance its Sugar Zone project, and brought an international partner aboard.
The financing package is a combination of $15 million in flow-through common shares with Cantor Fitzgerald Canada along with a $10-million private placement with Appian Natural Resources Fund, a London, U.K.-based metals and mining private equity fund.
“Appian brings a uniquely collaborative approach that seeks to leverage Appian's world-class operational team and financial expertise to maximize value for all stakeholders,” said Harte Gold president Stephen Roman in a Nov. 24 statement. “We look forward to the mutually beneficial exploration and development of our Sugar Zone property."
The proceeds from the private placement, which closes Dec. 14, will be used to speed up exploration and development of the Sugar Zone property.
The company is proceeding with underground ramp development on its property, located 60 kilometres east of the Hemlo area gold mines and 25 kilometres north of White River, off the Trans-Canada Highway.
The company is in the process of extracting a 70,000-tonne advanced exploration bulk sample from its deposit and expects to be full commercial production by mid-2017.
The property holds an indicated resource of 1,117,000 tonnes grading 8.41 grams/tonne (g/t) for 302,000 ounces of contained gold and an inferred resource of 417,000 tonnes grading 7.13 g.t 95,000 ounces of contained gold.
Harte Gold and Appian have agreed to a 24-month budget to fund exploration drilling, infill and resource definition drilling, large scale regional exploration, continued underground development and working capital.
Appian founder Michael Scherb said the firm was attracted by the Sugar Zone’s high-grade, low cost economics, combined with its considerable resource upside.
“Following on the good work to date by management, we see an opportunity to work, in partnership with management as co-significant shareholders in the project, to accelerate exploration and development of the Sugar Zone property, to increase defined resources and advance the project to a near-term construction decision."
