VANCOUVER, Dec. 17, 2019 /CNW/ - Goldplay
Exploration Ltd. (TSXV: GPLY, FRANKFURT: GPE, OTCQB: GLYXF) ("Goldplay" or
the "Company"), is pleased to announce that it has entered into
a Letter of Intent ("LOI") with Mako Mining Corp. ("Mako"), the
sole shareholder of Marlin Gold Mining Ltd. ("Marlin"), pursuant to
which it was granted the right to acquire 100% of the shares of
Marlin (the "Marlin Shares"). Marlin is a private British Columbia company, 100% controlled by
Mako. Marlin owns, amongst other assets, Oro Gold de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. ("Oro Gold"), a Mexican
company that owns the La Trinidad
mine facilities ("La Trinidad"), currently being decommissioned
(Figure 1). Oro Gold also controls
100% of nine concessions (the "Concessions") totaling 104,094.5 ha
located adjacent to Goldplay's existing portfolio in the historic
Rosario gold-silver Mining
District, Sinaloa, Mexico (Figure
2).
Under the LOI, Goldplay was granted the exclusive right to
acquire 100% of the Marlin Shares until December 31, 2020. Goldplay is now moving forward
with its legal, financial and technical due diligence review of
Marlin, Oro Gold, La Trinidad and other assets owned by Marlin.
Upon completion of due diligence, if Goldplay is satisfied with
same, the parties expect to then negotiate the terms of a
definitive agreement in relation to this acquisition. The Company
will provide shareholders with updates on the status of this
transaction when material information becomes available.
The terms of the transaction are subject to negotiation and will
include a nominal cash payment to Mako and the issuance of a small
NSR royalty to Mako on the Concessions currently owned by
Oro Gold. Goldplay will assume all
remaining tax liabilities of Oro
Gold. Mako will be responsible for reclamation activities at
La Trinidad and associated costs
until it receives approval from the Mexican government that
reclamation is complete. All proceeds from the lawsuit Mako and
Oro Gold have filed against their
insurers and reinsurers related to damages from Hurricane Willa
will be for the benefit of Mako, and Mako will be responsible for
the costs of this litigation.
Goldplay President and CEO Marcio
Fonseca commented, "We are pleased to enter into the
Letter of Intent with Mako, as it opens up the opportunity to fully
review and potentially acquire highly prospective gold and silver
assets adjacent to the San Marcial Project, including on-site
infrastructure. If successful, the transaction would prove to be an
important advancement toward our goal of becoming a leading company
in control of key assets in this district. Goldplay's team has
extensive experience in the Rosario gold-silver Mining District. With over
10 years of on-the-ground exploration, the team has acquired
fundamental knowledge of the geological setting of the district.
This proprietary intelligence contributes to maximizing value from
this proposed acquisition and supports our goal of delivering
significant shareholder value through new discoveries."
Oro Gold acquired the Nueva
Trinidad property from Minera Camargo S.A. de C.V. in 2005 and
subsequently commenced drilling and regional exploration. The
property had been previously owned and operated by a subsidiary of
Eldorado Gold Corp ("Eldorado"). Based on Eldorado's annual reports, production from the
Taunus Pit commenced in 1996 and ended in the fall of 1998.
A second zone, below what was mined by Eldorado, was discovered by Marlin in 2009 and
is located approximately 30 m below
the Eldorado zone or approximately
150 m below surface. The discovery of
this deeper zone was the basis for the NI 43-101 preliminary
economic assessment that Marlin filed on SEDAR on June 11, 2012.
In 2014, Marlin achieved commercial production of a heap leach
open pit operation at Nueva Trinidad, one of the highest-grade open
pit heap leach gold mines in Mexico. While Marlin focused primarily on
advancing production at the Taunus Pit, today the remainder of the
Nueva Trinidad land package and surrounding area remains
under-explored.
About Goldplay Exploration Ltd.
Goldplay has successfully consolidated a district-sized
portfolio, owning >250 sq. km of mineral concessions in the
historic Rosario gold-silver
Mining District in the state of Sinaloa,
Mexico. Its flagship project, San Marcial, consists of a
1,250-ha land package located south of the La Rastra and Plomosas historic mines. San
Marcial is a near-surface, high-grade silver, lead, and zinc open
pit amenable project for which a NI 43-101 resource estimate was
completed by Goldplay in early 2019. Additionally, high-grade gold
was drilled in July 2019 at San
Marcial, opening up the potential for further gold success.
Goldplay's 100% owned El Habal
precious metals project is located 20 km west of the San Marcial
Project. It comprises 3,700 hectares and is located 75 km southeast
of the modern coastal port of Mazatlán, and 10 km on a paved road
from the historic mining town of Rosario,
Sinaloa, Mexico.
Goldplay's current focus includes expanding its NI 43-101
resource estimate at the San Marcial project, which contains 36Moz
Ag Eq (indicated) + 11Moz Ag Eq (Inferred), by defining new
high-grade gold and silver targets along the project's 6 km
mineralized trend. Goldplay is the first company to perform
exploration work at San Marcial in over 10 years. It is a low-risk
development stage project, fully exploration permitted and
supported by the local communities to carry out all proposed
exploration activities. Only 500 m of
the 6 km trend has been drilled to date, highlighting the
significant potential for further discoveries. The Company has
identified 8 high-priority targets along the 6 km trend and is
currently drilling two high-priority targets at Faisanes and
Nava. Some of these exploration
targets consist of old shallow pits, caved shafts and historic
shallow underground workings in areas with extensive hydrothermal
alteration, hosted by major regional structures in a felsic
volcanic environment. Mapping and sampling by Goldplay have
revealed evidence of dacite-rhyolite dome structures in a highly
prospective geological environment for additional high-grade gold
and silver discoveries.
The El Habal Project is a drill-stage project. Its oxidized gold
mineralized zone outcrops along a series of rolling hills with
evidence of historic shallow underground mining along a 6 km-long
prospective corridor. The El Habal Project is located near the
historic gold-silver Rosario Mine which operated for over 250
years.
Goldplay's team has over 30 years of experience with senior
roles in exploration, financing, and development in the mining
industry, including over ten years of extensive exploration
experience in the Rosario Mining District, leading to previous
successful discoveries.
The NI 43-101 reports for each of the San Marcial and El Habal
Projects are available on SEDAR.
Disclaimer for Forward-Looking
Information
This press release contains
forward-looking statements and information that are based on the
beliefs of management and reflect the Company's current
expectations. When used in this press release, the words
"estimate", "project", "belief", "anticipate", "intend", "expect",
"plan", "predict", "may" or "should" and the negative of these
words or such variations thereon or comparable terminology are
intended to identify forward-looking statements and information.
Such statements and information reflect the current view of the
Company. Risks and uncertainties may cause actual results to differ
materially from those contemplated in those forward-looking
statements and information. By their nature, forward-looking
statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other
factors which may cause our actual results, performance or
achievements, or other future events, to be materially different
from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or
implied by such forward-looking statements. READERS
SHOULD NOT PLACE UNDUE IMPORTANCE ON FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
AND SHOULD NOT RELY UPON THIS INFORMATION AS OF ANY OTHER DATE.
WHILE THE COMPANY MAY ELECT TO, IT DOES NOT UNDERTAKE TO UPDATE
THIS INFORMATION AT ANY PARTICULAR TIME EXCEPT AS REQUIRED IN
ACCORDANCE WITH APPLICABLE LAWS.
Mr. Marcio Fonseca
P. Geo, President & CEO
Goldplay Exploration
Ltd.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this press release.
SOURCE Goldplay Exploration Ltd