Eskay Mining Corp. [ESK-TSXV, ESKYF-OTCQB, KN7-Frankfurt, AOYDPM] and P2 Gold Inc. [PGLD-TSXV] have agreed to terminate a proposed business combination that would have seen Eskay acquiring P2 via share exchange deal.
The companies said the proposed arrangement is being cancelled due to market conditions. However, they are planning to continue with a concurrent plan to execute an exploration program on the Eskay-Corey project in British Columbia.
Eskay Mining is focused on exploration and development of precious and base metals along the Eskay rift in a highly prolific region of northwest B.C. known as the Golden Triangle, roughly 70 kilometres northwest of Stewart. Eskay currently holds mineral tenures in the area covering 52,600 hectares.
P2Gold is advancing its gold-copper Gabbs Project on the Walker Lane Trend in Nevada.
“The Eskay-Corey property is the most prospective ground in the Golden Triangle without a major discovery to date,’’ said Joe Ovsenek, President and CEO of P2. “We look forward to getting to ground this summer and bringing our exploration and development experience to the Golden Triangle over the last 20 years to bear on Eskay-Corey.
The Eskay-Corey property has been shown to host several volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) targets and has the potential to host nickel-copper massive sulphide and several occurrences of vein-style mineralization.
The Main VMS target areas on the property include the SIB-Lulu, TV-Jeff, C10, GFJ, and Spearhead zones.
P2 Gold was recently said it is re-evaluating the preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for its Gabbs project. The company said a new PEA was expected to be completed in the second quarter of this year.
In re-evaluating the PEA, the company is assessing the benefits of incorporating the lower-grade mineralized material above the cut-off grade for heap leach and mill mineralized material that was not included in the September, 2023, PEA.
The 2024 PEA is expected to consist of a heap leach operation and a mill operation starting up after the initial heap leach capital is repaid, with the heap leach and mill operating in tandem for the remainder of the mine life.
The Gabbs Project consists of 355 unpatented lode mining claims and one patented lode mining claim covering four known zones of mineralization and spanning approximately 2,800 hectares.
The project is estimated to contain an indicated resource of 1.06 million ounces of gold equivalent or 676,000 ounces of gold, 1.96 million ounces of silver and 261.3 million pounds of copper. On top of that is an inferred resource of 1.36 million million ounces of gold equivalent or 895,000 ounces of gold, 1.9 million ounces of silver and 304 million pounds of copper.
On Wednesday, Eskay Mining shares were unchanged at 28 cents and trade in a 52-week range of $1.33 and 26 cents. P2 Gold was unchanged at $0.075. The shares trade in a 52-week range of 26 cents and $0.055.
