Eldorado Gold takes 11.5% stake in Probe Metals
Eldorado Gold Corp. [ELD-TSX; EGO-NYSE] said it has acquired an 11.5% stake in Probe Metals Inc. [PRB-TSXV, PROBF-OTCQB] by picking up 15.04 million Probe shares for $1.575 each in a transaction worth $23.7 million.
Prior to the acquisition, which was announced after the close of trading on July 21, 2021, Eldorado did not own any shares of Probe. It said the shares were acquired in a private transaction and were bought for investment purposes.
Probe shares advanced on the news, rising 1.8% or $0.03 to $1.70 in light trading. The shares are currently trading in a 52-week range of $1.95 and $1.26.
Eldorado Gold shares eased 0.76% or $0.09 to $11.79 on volume of 108,830. The shares are trading in a 52-week range of $18.90 and $11.47.
Probe Metals was formed as a result of the sale of Probe Mines Ltd. to Goldcorp Inc. in March 2015. Newmont Corp., [NGT-TSX, NEM-NYSE], the world’s largest gold miner, currently has a 12% stake in Probe Metals.
Eldorado is acquiring the shares as Probe works to complete a preliminary economic assessment at its 100%-owned Val d’Or East Pascalis project in Val d’Or, Quebec.
The Val d’Or East project is a district-scale land package, comprising 435 square kilometres and represents one of the largest land holdings in the Val-d’Or mining camp. The property is host to three past producing mines (Beliveau, Bussiere, and Monique) and falls along four regional mine trends, including 14 kilometres of strike length along the prolific Cadillac Break.
In a recent update, the company said the total resource (open pit and underground) at the site now stand at 1.8 million ounces in the measured and indicated category and 2.3 million ounces in the inferred category.
The updated estimate will form the basis of the project’s upcoming PEA, the company has said. “We are making very good progress on the PEA and are looking forward to its release in the third quarter,” said Yves Dessureault, Probe’s Chief Operating Officer.
Based in Vancouver, Eldorado is a mid-tier gold and base metals producer with an international portfolio that includes mining, development and exploration projects in Turkey, Canada, Greece, Romania and Brazil.
Eldorado Gold Corp. recently acquired all the shares of QMX Gold Corp. [QMX-TSX] that it didn’t already own for $132 million or 30 cents per share in a friendly transaction.
QMX is applying a systematic and methodical approach to targeting, drilling, and evaluating an extensive land package across 200 square kilometres in the Val d’Or camp. Its exploration focus has been on growing the Bonneford deposit on the eastern side of the property and drilling the River and Poulmaque targets on the Bourlamaque Zone.
QMX recently said the Bonneford South Intrusion is estimated to contain an indicated resource of 397,100 ounces of gold and an inferred resource of 290,800 ounces.