The third largest landholder in the Pilbara, Canadian-listed Pacton Gold (TSX-V:PAC), has announced it is acquiring mining and exploration licenses for gold prospect Friendly Creek, located south of Port Hedland and abutting fellow gold explorer Novo Resources’ (TSX-V:NVO) tenements.
Pacton will move to wholly own Friendly Creek – which is prospective for conglomerate-style gold – entering into a binding letter of intent with the vendors, private prospector Darren White and Gardner Mining, an Australian unlisted exploration company.
Once acquired Pacton will hold an additional 31.36 km2 tenements, composed of five granted mining leases and one granted exploration license.
Under the terms of the transaction, Pacton Gold will acquire a 100% interest in Friendly Creek by issuing the vendors CDN$25,000 and 2,500,000 shares in the company.
The Canadian explorer will be able to commence prospecting in rapid-time through existing on-site infrastructure, including an operational camp facility and mining leases which permit immediate, large-scale bulk sampling.
Historical explorers at Friendly Creek mined mostly alluvial fine gold, recovering 127 oz and a 165 oz gold nuggets.
The acquisition of the Friendly Creek Project, with granted mining leases, clearly places Pacton with a strategic advantage ahead of our peers in creating the opportunity to rapidly conduct large scale bulk sampling programs,” Pacton Gold interim president and CEO Alec Pismiris said.
“The historical discovery of two of the largest gold nuggets in Western Australia, weighing in at 127 oz and 165 oz, and an identified mineralised strike length of 10 km is compelling to justify an upcoming intensive exploration program.
“We look forward to working closely with the Gardner team, as we continue to focus on understanding the true potential of our strategic portfolio holdings and as we look to complete additional accretive acquisitions,” he said.
Gardner Mining will continue to work closely with Pacton Gold, leveraging the company’s extensive local operating experience and knowledge.
The team is comprised of corporate finance executives, geologists, prospectors and mining executives.
Following the acquisition, the company has flagged initial exploration activities including a review of historical mining and exploration, acquisition and interpretation of high resolution airborne imagery, infill and extensional geochemical sampling, and metal detecting to identify near-surface gold nuggets.
