Dolly Varden Silver assuming Big Bulk option agreement, British Columbia
Dolly Varden Silver Corp. [TSXV-DV; OTCQX-DOLLF; FSE-DVQ1] has entered into an assignment and assumption agreement with Libero Copper & Gold Corp. [TSXV-LBC; OTCQB-LBCMF], under which Dolly Varden has acquired from Libero an option agreement entitling Dolly Varden, subject to certain conditions, to earn a 100% undivided interest in the southern portion of the Big Bulk project from Libero, thus consolidating the entire copper-gold porphyry system.
The Libero property, also known as the Big Bulk property, is composed of seven mineral claims making up 3,025 hectares in the Golden Triangle, northwestern British Columbia. Under the assignment agreement, as consideration, the company has agreed to issue Libero 275,000 common shares of the company.
Agreement highlights: Consolidation of the Big Bulk copper-gold mineralized calc-alkali porphyry system of the Texas Creek plutonic suite; historic data sets will be incorporated into a complete geologic model; and existing land use agreement and exploration permit in “
We have been continuing to seek accretive consolidation opportunities in the area and the amalgamation of the southern portion of the Big Bulk copper gold porphyry with Dolly Varden’s portion is our latest step,” said Shawn Khunkhun, president andCEO of Dolly Varden. “In the Golden Triangle, porphyry systems can represent metallogenic feeders to high-grade vein systems, such as the KSM deposit that occurs adjacent to the Brucejack mine. Big Bulk may represent a causative mineralized porphyry to the high-grade silver and gold deposits 10 km to the west at the Kitsault Valley trend.”
Big Bulk is located 20 km north of the town of Kitsault, B.C., and is surrounded by Hecla Mining’s Kinskuch project.
The southern portion of the Big Bulk property was initially explored by Teck and Canadian Empire Minerals from 2001 to 2003. The northern half of the system was drilled by AngloGold in 2009, encountering porphyry-style alteration, with copper and gold mineralization associated with quartz chalcopyrite/pyrite stockwork veins.
A new interpretation of the geology based on recent geologic mapping by the BCGS indicates that the target is a much larger calc-alkaline porphyry system tilted on its side with similarities in age and structural setting to the Kerr-Sulpherets-Mitchell (KSM) deposits. The work by UBC-MDRU (2018) places the Big Bulk intrusive along a regional structural trend that hosts numerous porphyry and epigenetic deposits. Within the Big Bulk porphyry system, higher-grade mineralization occurs in a discreet mineralized phases that had not been targeted by previous operators.
The acquisition is being completed pursuant to the assignment agreement. Dolly Varden has agreed to issue the consideration shares to Libero at a deemed value of 78 cents per consideration share (being the closing price of the common shares on the TSX Venture Exchange on December 15, 2023) for an aggregate consideration of $214,500.
Issuance of the common shares remains subject to TSX-V approval and other customary conditions.
In connection with the acquisition, Dolly Varden also entered into an amending agreement with LCT Holdings Inc., the owner of the Big Bulk property and optionor under the option agreement. The amended option agreement provides that Dolly Varden may earn a 100%t undivided interest in the Big Bulk property by completing the following payments: $50,000 in cash by December 31, 2023; $150,000 in cash by December 31, 2024; $250,000 in cash or common shares by December 31, 2025; $500,000 in cash or common shares by December 31, 2026; and $500,000 in cash or common shares by December 31, 2027.
Dolly Varden Silver is a mineral exploration company focused on advancing its 100%-held Kitsault Valley project (which combines the Dolly Varden project and the Homestake Ridge project) located in the Golden Triangle, BC, 25 km by road to tide water. The 163 km2 project hosts the high-grade silver and gold resources of Dolly Varden and Homestake Ridge along with the past-producing Dolly Varden and Torbrit silver mines.
The Kitsault Valley project also contains the Big Bulk property which is prospective for porphyry- and skarn-style copper and gold mineralization, similar to other such deposits in the region (Red Mountain, KSM, Red Chris).