Barkerville raises $20 million for Cariboo development
Pouring a gold bar at the Cariboo Gold Project, east-central British Columbia. Source: Barkerville Gold Mines Ltd.
Barkerville Gold Mines Ltd. [BGM-TSXV; BGMZF-OTC; IWUB-FSE] said Wednesday March 27 that it is raising $20 million from a bought deal private placement to fund exploration and development at its flagship Cariboo Project in British Columbia.
The company said an underwriting syndicate led by Haywood Securities Inc. has agreed to buy 55.5 million Barkverville shares on a bought deal basis at 36 cents per share.
The underwriters have been granted a green shoe option to purchase an additional 15% of the offering at any time up to 48 hours before the closing date, which is expected to occur by April 23, 2019.
On Wednesday, Barkerville shares eased 1.30% or $0.005 to 38 cents and now trade in a 52-week range of 30 cents and 70 cents.
Backed by Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd. [OR-TSX, NYSE] and Osisko Mining Inc. [OSK-TSX], Barkerville is moving ahead with big plans to develop an underground mine and milling operation on the company’s extensive land package, which covers 1,950 km2.
Barkerville President and CEO Chris Lodder has said he envisages initial production of 150,000 ounces of gold annually from an operation that might cost between $300 million and $400 million to develop.
To help fund ongoing work, the company said it expected to process about 30,000 tonnes of ore in 2018, material that is being processed at a milling facility near Wells, B.C., about 110 km from the mine site.
The Cariboo Project is located in a historic mining district where the first gold discoveries were made in 1858 at the restored town of Barkerville. The project currently hosts 1.6 million ounces of gold in measured and indicated resources and a further 2.6 million ounces in the inferred resource category. Measured, indicated and inferred resources are contained in the Cow and Island Mountain deposits.
The underground mineral resource estimate incorporates the Cow and Valley Zones on Cow Mountain and Shaft Zone and Mosquito Creek on Island Mountain at a cut-off grade of 3.0 g/t gold.
Mineral resources in the Bonanza Ledge and BC Vein deposits on Barkerville Mountain are also included in the resource estimate, the company said in a press release on May 2, 2018.
In a press release on February 20, 2019, the company said current resource at the Shaft Zone deposit is modelled to an average depth of 350 metres. Barkerville is currently exploring down dip of the known gold mineralization on Shaft Zone with three drill rigs.
Meanwhile, Barkerville said the common shares issued in connection with the offering will be subject to a statutory four-month hold period. In return for their services, the company has agreed to pay the underwriters a cash commission equal to 5.0% of the gross proceeds of the offering, excluding gross proceeds received from the sale of shares to Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd. and Osisko Mining Ltd.