Sandspring set to become Gold X Mining

Sandspring Resources Ltd. [SSP-TSXV; SSPXF-OTCQX] is proposing to change its name to Gold X Mining Corp. It is also planning a share consolidation on an 8 to 1 basis. In keeping with that plan, the company has formed a strategic advisory board to assist it with shareholder value creation.

The move comes after Sandspring recently raised $7.5 million from a non-brokered private placement that included a $1 million investment from Gran Colombia Gold Corp. [GCM-TSX] as well as the participation of Howe Street financier Frank Giustra.

On Friday, Sandspring shares were up 4.3% or $0.015 to 32.5 cents. The shares are currently trading in a 52-week range of 15 cents and 44.5 cents.

Sandspring is a junior exploration company with a focus on South America’s emerging western Guyana gold district.

Sandspring said proceeds from the private placement of 37.5 million units, priced at 20 cents each are being used to finance the start of a feasibility study at its flagship Toroparu Gold Project, which is located in the Mazaruni-Cuyuni region of Western Guyana. Proceeds are also earmarked for step out and exploration drilling at the Chicharron Silver-Gold project in the Segovia Mining District of Colombia.

Back in June, 2019, the company released the results from a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) of the Toroparu Project, which hosts a global gold resource of 7.4 million ounces in the Measured and Indicated category and 3.1 million ounces of inferred material.

The PEA envisages 4.5 million ounces of gold production, with 3.64 million ounces produced in doré bars over a 24-year mine life.

Sandspring said the share consolidation is intended to provide greater access for global institutional investors. Joining the strategic advisory board are former Lithium X Energy executives Paul Matysek and Brian Paes Braga. Lithium X was acquired last year by NextView New Energy Lion Hong Kong Ltd.

Paes-Braga, a Canadian entrepreneur and head of merchant banking at SAF Group, recently acquired 9.3 million Sandspring units, representing 3.4% of the issued and outstanding shares of the company. Completion of the $7.5 million private placement left Paes-Braga with control of over 16.5 million common shares and 12.4 million share purchase warrants of Sandspring, or a 6.04% stake.

“It is an exciting time to be advancing natural resource projects in Guyana as the country is experiencing generational growth with the recent discovery of rich offshore oil fields,” said Paes-Braga. “Billions of dollars are presently entering the country via large international energy companies eager to responsibly develop these resources.”

“The Toroparu Project represents a world class opportunity for leveraging gold price momentum into shareholder value,” said Matysek. “Its size, at 7.4 million ounces of gold with significant copper and silver credits, its advanced development stage status, its potential mine financing from Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. [WPM-TSX, NYSE], and its long-term relationship with the Guyanese government and local population, all provide investors with substantial opportunity for value creation in this gold environment,” he said. “I’m looking forward to working with the refocused and freshly branded Gold X board, management and my fellow Advisor.”