First Nordic Metals completes acquisition of Oijarvi Project, Finland
First Nordic Metals Corp. [TSXV-FNM; OTCQB-FNMCF; FSE-HEG0] has completed its acquisition of the Oijarvi gold project, northern Finland, that was announced on July 15, 2024. Oijarvi is a 17,600-hectare greenstone belt land package that includes the Kylmakangas gold deposit, which contains a high-grade underground resource that has seen limited drilling.
The transaction was effected by way of a subscription agreement between First Nordic and Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. [AEM-TSX, NYSE], under which Agnico Eagle exchanged amounts due under the asset purchase agreement between certain subsidiaries of First Nordic, certain subsidiaries of Agnico Eagle and EMX Royalty Corp. dated March 19, 2021, as amended May 1, 2023, for 27,954,872 common shares of the company.
First Nordic issued the 27,954,872 shares to Agnico Eagle at a subscription price of 29.25 cents per share for gross proceeds of $8,176,800, which proceeds were used by First Nordic to immediately satisfy the remaining consideration payable to certain subsidiaries of Agnico Eagle under the purchase agreement. The transaction was treated as a shares-for-debt transaction and remains subject to final acceptance of the TSXV.
In connection with the transaction, Agnico Eagle and First Nordic entered into an investor rights agreement that provides Agnico Eagle with, among other things, certain rights in the event it maintains minimum ownership thresholds in the company, including: the right to participate in equity financings; a top-up right that would permit Agnico Eagle to increase its holdings in First Nordic to 19.9 per cent; and the right (which Agnico Eagle has no present intention of exercising) to nominate one person to First Nordic’s board of directors.
The company’s flagship asset is the Barsele gold project, located in Sweden and in a joint venture with senior gold producer Agnico Eagle Mines. Ownership in the Barsele gold project is currently 55% Agnico Eagle and 45% First Nordic (Agnico Eagle has the right to earn an additional 15% by completing a prefeasibility study).
Immediately surrounding the Barsele project, First Nordic is the 100% owner of a district-scale license position of close to 100,000 hectares on both the prolific Gold Line and Skelleftea volcanogenic massive sulphide belts. Additionally, in northern Finland First Nordic holds the entire underexplored Oijarvi greenstone belt.