TORONTO, Sept. 9, 2013 /CNW/ - Marathon Gold
Corporation ("Marathon" or the "Company") (MOZ:TSX) today
announced the signing of an option to lease agreement by Juniper
Resources ("Juniper") for the Skookum Lode of the Golden Chest Mine
in north-eastern Idaho, USA.
The Golden Chest Mine is owned 52.22% by Marathon Gold Corporation
("Marathon") and 47.78% by New Jersey Mining Corporation ("NJMC")
and NJMC is the operator.
The agreement provides Juniper with the option
to undertake definition drilling on the Skookum Lode at the Golden
Chest Mine. Juniper has until November 30,
2013 to decide whether to proceed with mining of the Skookum
Lode from underground. The term of the lease is 39 months from the
date of signing of the agreement providing Juniper elects to
proceed with mining once the option period is finished.
The Skookum Lode extends for 400 m along strike
but represents less than 40% of the total favourable strike length
of the Idaho Fault which hosts several associated gold bearing
veins. Areas of high grade potential that are not included in this
agreement are the Joe Dandy veins in the south end of the mine and
the Katie Dora veins in the north end of the mine. The proposed
mining in the Skookum Lode will have no impact on the existing open
pit resource of Measured and Indicated 4,371,000 tonnes grading
1.59 g/t Au and containing 223,000 ounces of gold, and an
additional Inferred open pit resource is 2,369,000 tonnes grading
1.33 g/t Au and containing 101,000 ounces of gold.
Material terms of the Agreement are as
follows;
| 1) |
|
|
US$50,000 was paid on signing and divided on a pro rata basis
between Marathon and NJMC. |
| 2) |
|
|
Juniper will conduct a definition drilling program of 5,000 to
10,000 feet and decide by November 30, 2013 whether it will
exercise its option to enter into the mining lease. |
| 3) |
|
|
If the lease option is exercised, Juniper will pay
Marathon and NJMC a US$200,000 advanced royalty payment to be
divided on a pro rata basis between Marathon and NJMC. |
| 4) |
|
|
Juniper will pay a 2% net smelter return to Marathon and NJMC
on a pro rata basis. |
| 5) |
|
|
Juniper will make the payments to the vendor of the Golden
Chest Mine for the duration of the time that Juniper is mining the
Skookum Lode. These payments amount to US$1,500,000 over the next
three years. |
| 6) |
|
|
The mine owners are free to explore the rest of the property
outside the lease area during the term of the lease. |
"The exercise of this lease has the potential to provide ongoing
cash flow to Marathon over the length of the lease and it will free
up money that would otherwise be required to fund annual payments
to the vendor of the Golden Chest mine. This saving and the
additional royalty funds will allow us to focus our resources on
the Valentine Lake Property which has a significant gold resource
and several drill ready targets." commented Phillip Walford, President and CEO of
Marathon.
Phillip Walford
P.Geo, President and CEO of Marathon, is Marathon's
Qualified Person in compliance with National Instrument 43-101 with
respect to this release. Mr. Walford has reviewed the contents for
accuracy and has approved this new release on behalf of
Marathon.
Golden Chest Mine
The Golden Chest Mine is located two miles east
of Murray, Idaho within the gold
belt of the Coeur d'Alene Mining District. The mine has over 3,900
m of underground workings and has the permits necessary to drill
and operate on the deposit. The property includes 24 patented
mining claims and 70 unpatented mining claims covering 515
hectares. The patented claims that cover the mine workings have
mineral and surface rights enabling the Joint-Venture to work
easily on the Mine property.
About Marathon Gold Corporation
Marathon Gold Corporation is a North American
gold resource development company, with projects located in the
mining friendly province of Newfoundland and Labrador, the prolific Coeur d'Alene Mining
District of Idaho and the historic
gold rich Greenhorn District of Oregon,
USA. Marathon has a project pipeline consisting of
early stage exploration to advanced resource development projects.
Marathon is continually evaluating new gold resource development
projects of merit that are located within the Americas.
Marathon's focused and low-cost approach to exploration and
resource development has an established record of delivering rapid
growth. For more information visit: www.marathon-gold.com
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING
FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
Except for statements of historical fact
relating to Marathon Gold Corporation, certain information
contained herein constitutes "forward-looking statements".
Forward-looking statements include statements that are predictive
in nature, depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or
include words such as "expects", "anticipates", "plans",
"believes", "considers", "intends", "targets", or negative versions
thereof and other similar expressions, or future or conditional
verbs such as "may", "will", "should", "would" and "could". We
provide forward-looking statements for the purpose of conveying
information about our current expectations and plans relating to
the future and readers are cautioned that such statements may not
be appropriate for other purposes. By its nature, this information
is subject to inherent risks and uncertainties that may be general
or specific and which give rise to the possibility that
expectations, forecasts, predictions, projections or conclusions
will not prove to be accurate, that assumptions may not be correct
and that objectives, strategic goals and priorities will not be
achieved. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited
to those identified and reported in Marathon Gold Corporation's
public filings, which may be accessed at www.sedar.com. Other
than as specifically required by law, we undertake no obligation to
update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or
circumstances after the date on which such statement is made, or to
reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, whether as a result
of new information, future events or results otherwise.
SOURCE Marathon Gold Corporation