Midas Gold dissident pushes for move to U.S.

Midas Gold Corp. [MAX-TSX; MDRPF-OTCQX] dissident shareholder Paulson & Co. Inc. has sent a letter to the company’s employees in connection with a requisitioning of a special meeting of shareholders to refresh the Midas board of directors and have the Canadian company re-domiciled to the U.S.

The move comes after Paulson issued a news release calling for the board to show leadership at the top by refreshing itself with more U.S. and specifically Idaho-based directors, and by adding people with skills that Paulson believes would better align with the future direction of the company.

Paulson & Co. is a New York-based private investment management firm which said it has provided the company with US$66 million to support the development of its Stibnite Gold Project. It currently manages funds that hold 209.4 million shares of Midas, representing a 44.1% stake in the company.

Midas shares advanced on the news, rising 14% or 16 cents to $1.29 on volume of 313,497. The shares are currently trading in a 52-week range of $2.04 and 23.5 cents.

Paulson also said it believes Midas must continue to position itself as a critical minerals company and not just as a gold producer. “Given antimony’s growing significance as a critical mineral of strategic value to the United States, it is imperative that we highlight that value domestically to continue garnering stakeholder support for development of the project,” Paulson said.

Antimony is found in the sulfide mineral stibnite. It is used in lead-acid batteries and to improve the properties of solders, bullets, and bearings. An emerging application is the use in microelectronics.

Midas Gold’s key asset is the Stibnite Gold Project in a historic mining district in central Idaho, about 150 km northeast of Boise. In 2014, a prefeasibility study (PFS) indicated that project could be developed into a large-scale, long-life, low-cost open pit gold mine producing 388,000 ounces of gold in the first four years and 337,000 ounces annually over its life span.

The four deposits, including historic tailings, have combined indicated resources of 104.5 tonnes grading 1.63 g/t gold, 2.65 g/t silver and 0.07% antimony. The aggregate indicated mineral resource stands at 5.46 million ounces of gold, 8.90 million ounces of silver and 155.2 million pounds of Stibnite. CAPEX is estimated at US$1.12 billion, including start-up capital costs of $970 million.