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Kinross to continue Laguna exploration

Reorganised junior Rockcliff Metals (CSE: RCLF) says Kinross Gold affiliate KG Exploration (Canada) will continue funding exploration at Laguna after the first drilling since 1944 discovered visible gold and new quartz veins.
Kinross to continue Laguna exploration Kinross to continue Laguna exploration Kinross to continue Laguna exploration Kinross to continue Laguna exploration Kinross to continue Laguna exploration

A specimen from the historically mined Laguna property, on display at the Royal Ontario Museum

Staff reporter

Rockcliff's subsidiary Goldpath Resources has an option to earn a 100% working interest in the historically-mined property in Manitoba's Snow Lake and has optioned it to Kinross.

It said Kinross had spent its C$1.25 million two-year commitment in the first six months and would spend a further $1 million on exploration starting this month.

Kinross must spend $5.5 million (US$4.1 million) over six years at the Laguna and Lucky Jack properties to earn 70% in both, under a deal struck last year.

Rockcliff has had a transformational start to 2019, closing a "reorganisation transaction" with cornerstone backing from Greenstone Resources, which now has a 43.1% stake, and buying back a stake in a Hudbay Minerals copper project.

Rockcliff raised about C$20.8 million (US$15.5 million) in a flow-through financing and $7.8 million (US$5.8 million) in hard dollar funding in a series of financings that closed this month.

In a $13.3 million (US$9.9 million) deal, it acquired three Manitoba assets from Norvista Capital and affiliates, comprising the option to earn a minimum 51% of Hudbay's Talbot copper property, a leasehold interest in the Bucko Lake mill facility and 100% of the Tower copper project, about 40km from Talbot.

Rockcliff had originally signed the option to earn 51% of Talbot from Hudbay in 2014.

However it had assigned its interest to Norvista 12 months ago for C$3 million and an additional 0.5% NSR over Tower, which was slated for commercial production later this year.

Ken Lapierre, who remains president and CEO amid a board overhaul that also took place this month, said last week the company looked forward to "unlocking the full value of our high-grade Manitoba assets and transitioning Rockcliff into the next major base metal producer in the Flin Flon-Snow Lake greenstone belt."

The company had ditched plans for a different transformation about a year earlier.

Rockcliff recently voluntarily delisted from the TSX Venture Exchange and debuted on the Canadian Securities Exchange last week.

Its shares last traded at 11.5c, capitalising it at $9 million.