Northern Vertex Mining CEO steps down; Eclipse merger proceeding
The Moss gold-silver mine located 80 miles southeast of Las Vegas in the Oatman District of Mohave County, Arizona. Source: Northern Vertex Mining Corp.
Northern Vertex Mining Corp. [NEE-TSXV; NHVCF-OTC] on Friday February 26 said Kenneth Berry stepped down as President and CEO, but remains a director. His duties will be assumed by Chairman and director Douglas Hurst, along with Michael Allen who will be appointed President.
The announcement comes after Northern Vertex recently merged with Eclipse Gold Mining Corp. [EGLD-TSXV – halted] in a move to create a new gold producer with a focus on the western United States.
Northern Vertex’s key asset is the 100%-owned Moss gold-silver project in Arizona. The mine reached commercial production in September, 2018 after the company’s partner Sprott Private Resource Lending LP, agreed to provide up to US$100 million in acquisition and development funding as well as a CAD$2 million private placement.
By deploying low-cost heap leaching recovery methods, Northern Vertex is expecting the Moss project to produce 45,000 ounces of gold equivalent during the first five years of production. Annual cash flow is projected at US$24 million and will be used to fund expansion and acquisitions.
Eclipse is working to develop the Hercules gold project 40 km southeast of Reno, Nevada on the Walker Lake Gold Trend. The main premise driving exploration is that four large surface gold systems may be connected at a deeper level, creating a very large oxidized system.
As of February 12, 2021, the combined entity had a cash balance of approximately US$18.7 million.
The merger was conditional on Eclipse completing a plan to raise $20 million from a private placement of subscription receipts at an issue price of $0.50 each. Part of the proceeds were earmarked to finance the purchase by Eclipse of $9.8 million worth of warrants from Maverix Metals Inc. [MMX-TSX, NYSE American].
On Friday the company said it has issued 1.09 million shares to Iconic Mineral Ltd. [ICM-TSXV; YQGB-FSE] under the terms of an August 2019 option agreement between Eclipse and Iconic Minerals and the amended agreement dated February 12, 2021 between Northern Vertex and Iconic.
Iconic has a portfolio of lithium and gold exploration projects in Nevada, including the Bonnie Claire Sar-cobatus Valley where recent drilling discovered lithium-enriched sediments averaging 1,153 ppm over 475 metres.
On Friday, Northern Vertex shares eased 7.14% or $0.03 to 39 cents on volume of 967,086. The shares are trading in a 52-week range of 72 cents and 15 cents.