VANCOUVER, Sept. 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Sandstorm Gold Ltd.
("Sandstorm" or the "Company") (NYSE MKT: SAND, TSX: SSL) has
amended the Bachelor Lake gold stream with Metanor Resources Inc.
("Metanor"). Beginning October 1,
2017, Sandstorm will purchase 20% of the gold produced from
the Bachelor Lake mine at an ongoing cost of $500 per ounce, until 12,000 ounces of gold have
been purchased by the Company at which time the gold stream will
convert into a 3.9% net smelter returns ("NSR") royalty. Metanor
has agreed to sell a minimum of 1,500 ounces of gold to Sandstorm
on a quarterly basis until the 12,000 ounce threshold has been
reached.
For consideration of the gold stream amendment, Sandstorm will
also receive:
- a 3.9% NSR royalty on Metanor's Barry project; and
- US$2.0 million in Metanor common
shares. Based on the 20-day volume weighted average share price of
Metanor on the TSX Venture Exchange the number of common shares to
be issued will be 3.16 million.
Metanor may elect to reduce the 3.9% NSR royalty on the Bachelor
Lake or Barry projects by making a US$2.0
million payment to Sandstorm in each case (the "Purchase
Option"). Upon exercising either of the Purchase Options, the
Sandstorm NSR royalty will decrease to 1.8%.
Sandstorm's President & CEO Nolan
Watson remarked, "During 2017, Metanor has undergone a major
restructuring with goals to achieve sustainable production at
Bachelor and to effectively develop their Barry project. As part of
the restructuring process, new shareholders have come in, the
company has been recapitalized and there have been changes at the
management and board level. The gold stream amendment is another
step in Metanor's progression and I think the structure that we've
agreed to makes sense for both companies."
Watson continued, "From a Sandstorm perspective we maintain
meaningful exposure to production from Bachelor while adding a
royalty on the Barry project, an advanced exploration-stage asset
located in the emerging Urban-Barry camp."
— About Bachelor Lake
Bachelor Lake is located outside of Val d'Or in Québec and is a greenstone hosted,
structurally controlled alkali-magmatic gold deposit that was host
to a producing mine during the 1980's. Metanor acquired the
property in 2004 and undertook major upgrades to the existing mine
and mill infrastructure including the installation of a
carbon-in-pulp process plant as well as 160 metres in shaft
development work. The current shaft has reached depths of more than
725 metres, allowing exploration and development on three
additional levels (13, 14, and 15).
The mine restarted production in 2013 as a long-hole underground
operation with mill capacity of 700 tonnes per day. The mill has
averaged recoveries of between 96% and 98% since its commissioning.
The Bachelor Lake deposit remains open in several directions and
exploration diamond drilling is ongoing in order to replace mined
ounces of gold.
— About Barry
The Barry project is located 180 kilometres southwest of
Chibougamau in Québec and is part
of the Urban-Barry belt in the Northern Volcanic Zone of the
Abitibi greenstone belt. The Barry deposit is structurally
controlled with gold mineralization contained in a system of
quartz-carbonate-albite-pyrite veins associated with sheared zones
included in a wide deformation corridor. The mineralized zones
coincide with strong IP anomalies occurring in volcanic units
throughout the property.
A Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") of the project was
completed in 2016 and evaluated a 1,200 tonne per day operation
with mineralized material being shipped by 150 tonne trucks to
Metanor's Bachelor mill, located 110 kilometres from the Barry mine
site. The economics of the PEA warranted further development at
Barry and Metanor is conducting exploration drilling, has plans to
complete a Pre-Feasibility study and is working towards permitting
the project.
The focus of the ongoing surface drilling program at Barry has
been to verify the extension of several gold bearing shear zones
identified below and outside the Barry pit area. Five parallel
shear zones have been identified and are now showing continuity
over 600 metres along strike and 400 metres vertically while
remaining open along strike and at depth. Highlights of the drill
intercepts in the quartz-pyrite veins associated with the shear
zones include:
- MB-17-83: 9.0 metres of 4.8 g/t gold from 313.0
metres;
- MB-17-88: 7.2 metres of 6.2 g/t gold from 473.4
metres;
- MB-17-99: 8.2 metres of 7.1 g/t gold from 389.3 metres;
and
-
- 5.5 metres of 9.4 g/t gold from 487.0 metres.
The upcoming phase of the drill campaign at the Barry project
will continue to focus on identifying and extending more high-grade
shear zones and two drill rigs are currently on site.
Metanor estimates the mineralized intercepts true thicknesses
are 65% to 75% of the drill core intercepts reported. For more
information and for complete drill results visit the Metanor
website at www.metanor.ca and see the press release dated
August 28, 2017.
Qualified Person
Keith Laskowski (MSc),
Sandstorm's Vice President, Technical Services is a Qualified
Professional (#01221QP) of the Mining and Metallurgical Society of
America and a Qualified Person as defined by Canadian National
Instrument 43-101. He has reviewed and approved the technical
information in this press release.
ABOUT SANDSTORM GOLD
Sandstorm Gold Ltd. is a gold royalty company. Sandstorm
provides upfront financing to gold mining companies that are
looking for capital and in return, receives the right to a
percentage of the gold produced from a mine, for the life of the
mine. Sandstorm has acquired a portfolio of 160 streams and
royalties, of which 20 of the underlying mines are producing.
Sandstorm plans to grow and diversify its low cost production
profile through the acquisition of additional gold royalties.
For more information visit: www.sandstormgold.com
CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS TO U.S. SECURITYHOLDERS
The financial information included or incorporated by reference
in this press release or the documents referenced herein has been
prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting
Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards
Board, which differs from US generally accepted accounting
principles ("US GAAP") in certain material respects, and thus are
not directly comparable to financial statements prepared in
accordance with US GAAP.
Information contained or referenced in this press release or in
the documents referenced herein concerning the properties,
technical information and operations of Sandstorm has been prepared
in accordance with requirements and standards under securities
laws, which differ from the requirements of US securities laws. The
terms "mineral resource", "measured mineral resource", "indicated
mineral resource" and "inferred mineral resource" used in this or
in the documents incorporated by reference herein are mining terms
as defined in accordance with NI 43-101 under guidelines set out in
the Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves
adopted by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and
Petroleum Council on 11 December
2005. While the terms "mineral resource", "measured mineral
resource", "indicated mineral resource" and "inferred mineral
resource" are recognized and required by securities laws other than
the requirements of US securities laws, they are not recognized by
the SEC. Disclosure of contained ounces are or may be permitted
disclosure under regulations applicable to Sandstorm; however, the
SEC normally only permits issuers to report resources as in place
tonnage and grade without reference to unit of production measures.
As such, certain information contained in this document or in the
documents incorporated by reference herein concerning descriptions
of mineralization and mineral resources under these standards may
not be comparable to similar information made public by US
companies subject to reporting and disclosure requirements of the
SEC.
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
This press release contains "forward-looking statements", within
the meaning of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, the U.S. Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities legislation, concerning
the business, operations and financial performance and condition of
Sandstorm. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited
to, statements with respect to the future price of gold, the
estimation of mineral reserves and resources, realization of
mineral reserve estimates, and the timing and amount of estimated
future production. Forward-looking statements can generally be
identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may",
"will", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe",
"continue", "plans", or similar terminology.
Forward-looking statements are made based upon certain
assumptions and other important factors that, if untrue, could
cause the actual results, performances or achievements of Sandstorm
to be materially different from future results, performances or
achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Such
statements and information are based on numerous assumptions
regarding present and future business strategies and the
environment in which Sandstorm will operate in the future,
including the price of gold and anticipated costs. Certain
important factors that could cause actual results, performances or
achievements to differ materially from those in the forward-looking
statements include, amongst others, gold price volatility,
discrepancies between actual and estimated production, mineral
reserves and resources and metallurgical recoveries, mining
operational and development risks relating to the parties which
produce the gold Sandstorm will purchase, regulatory restrictions,
activities by governmental authorities (including changes in
taxation), currency fluctuations, the global economic climate,
dilution, share price volatility and competition.
Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown
risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause the
actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of
Sandstorm to be materially different from those expressed or
implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not
limited to: the impact of general business and economic conditions,
the absence of control over mining operations from which Sandstorm
will purchase gold and risks related to those mining operations,
including risks related to international operations, government and
environmental regulation, actual results of current exploration
activities, conclusions of economic evaluations and changes in
project parameters as plans continue to be refined, risks in the
marketability of minerals, fluctuations in the price of gold,
fluctuation in foreign exchange rates and interest rates, stock
market volatility, as well as those factors discussed in the
section entitled "Risks to Sandstorm" in Sandstorm's annual report
for the financial year ended December 31,
2016 available at www.sedar.com. Although Sandstorm has
attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those contained in
forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause
results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can
be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as
actual results and future events could differ materially from those
anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not
place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Sandstorm does
not undertake to update any forward looking statements that are
contained or incorporated by reference, except in accordance with
applicable securities laws.
SOURCE Sandstorm Gold Ltd.
