York Harbour completes spin out of Nevada gold assets

York Harbour Metals Inc. [YORK-TSXV, YORKF-OTCPK, 5Deo) said it has completed a previously announced plan to spin out to shareholders its non-core Plumas and Eldorado projects (collectively known as the Pheonix Gold Project) in Battle Mountain, Nevada.

The company said it has spun out 100% of the common shares of Pheonix Gold to its shareholders by way of a court-approved plan of arrangement.

York Harbour shares moved lower on the news, easing almost 7.0% or $0.01 to 13.5 cents. The shares are currently trading in a 52-week range of 80 cents and 13.5 cents.

Under the terms of the plan of arrangement, shareholders received 0.2 of a common share of Spinco and one new common share of York Harbour. As a result, York Harbour shareholders received 13.7 million Spinco shares and continue to hold the same number of common shares of York as before the transaction took effect. Holders of options and warrants of York did not receive Spinco shares.

The company said the spin-out aims to unlock the value of the Pheonix Gold Project by enabling its independent development by a skilled and experienced management team.

York Harbour will continue to focus on the development of the York Harbour copper-zinc-silver and Bottom Brook Rare Earth Elements project, both located in western Newfoundland.

The Pheonix Gold project is situated approximately 20 kilometres southwest of Battle Mountain, Nevada and 120 kilometres from Elko. The Plumas property is owned 50% by Pheonix Gold USA and 50% by William Matlack.

The Eldorado property is owned 50% by Pheonix Gold USA and 50% by Nevada Gold Mines LLC (a joint venture between Newmont Corp. [NGT-TSX, NEM-NYSE]  and Barrick Gold Corp. [ABX-TSX, GOLD-NYSE]). Nevada Gold Mines LLC, currently ranks as the world’s single largest gold-producing complex.

Pheonix Gold conducted a drilling program on the Plumas project in 2014, consisting of six holes, covering 1,340 metres. According to assay data, multiple moderate to high-grade zones of gold mineralization have been encountered in the six drill holes.

Pheonix has not yet conducted any exploration at the Eldorado property since it was acquired. However, the company said two holes were completed by Newmont, which has not agreed to share information about the drill hole results.

Meanwhile, the company recently launched a Phase 5.0 drill program at its York Harbour project. It said the drilling campaign is designed to continue testing the high-grade mineralization at a number of targets including the A zone, the K Zone area and the Pinnacle Lake target, as well as the No. 4 Brock target.

It said the phase 5.0 drilling campaign will feature a series of 13 to 20 holes covering 3,500 metres or more of diamond drilling, the company said. The four target areas are spread across a large area measuring 2,500 metres by 2,000 metres, areas that have been identified as potential base metal mineralized target with a lack of historic drill testing.