Vancouver, British Columbia--(Marketwired - Nov. 27, 2017) – Dunnedin Ventures Inc. ("Dunnedin") (TSX Venture: DVI) is pleased to announce details of the gold vehicle spinout originally announced on July 20, 2017. The spinout will take place via Plan of Arrangement (“POA”) in British Columbia, the details of which will be provided in a separate news release in the near future. The new gold vehicle is named Solstice Gold Corporation (“Solstice”, “SGC” or the “Company”) and is currently a wholly owned subsidiary of Dunnedin. Following a positive Dunnedin shareholder vote approving the spinout, the Company anticipates it will be listed and begin trading on the TSX Venture Exchange as soon as practicable following the POA. The Date of Record for the spinout was July 17, 2017 after which shares of Dunnedin have been trading ex-dividend.
Solstice is a new gold-focussed exploration company created through the spinout by Dunnedin Ventures Inc. of 66 full claims, 50% of 12 additional claims and certain other rights1 covering the district scale Kahuna Project (“Kahuna” or the “Project”), all with no underlying option or earn in payments. Kahuna is located in Nunavut, Canada only 26 km from Rankin Inlet and approximately 7 km from the Meliadine gold deposits owned by Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. (TSX: AEM; “Agnico”).
Highlights of 2017 exploration include up to 34.9 g/t Au in boulders, up to 8.8 g/t Au in bedrock and seven elevated gold in till target areas.
An experienced and proven management team has been engaged to operate Solstice, comprised of Executive Chairman David Adamson Ph.D., President Marty Tunney P.Eng., Vice President Exploration Bob Singh P.Geo, Chief Financial Officer Tony Ricci CPA, CA and Strategic Advisor Chris Taylor, M.Sc. P.Geo. The Board of Directors is made up of David Adamson – Chairman, Chris Taylor, Chad Ulansky and Michael Leskovec. All of the details from this News Release along with graphics and images can be found in the Company’s investor presentation available at www.solsticegold.com/investors/presentation.
Management and Board
David Adamson M.Sc., Ph.D., Executive Chairman. Mr. Adamson has over 25 years of experience in the mineral deposit industry. David has a proven record of creating shareholder value by identifying opportunities, making discoveries and advancing them through the exploration stage to development. In 2010 he received the AME BC Colin Spence award for Excellence in Global Mineral Exploration. He has played a key role in five mineral deposits one of which is currently advancing a four million Oz. M&I gold deposit. David is well experienced in the capital markets and has raised well over $500 million to date. He has been a member of senior management and board member of several publicly traded companies. Mr. Adamson holds both an M.Sc. and Ph.D. in economic geology.
Martin Tunney, P. Eng., President. Mr. Tunney began his 14 years of experience in the mineral industry as a mining engineer working for Inco and then Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM). His capital markets experience includes working for two Investment Banks where he worked on transactions of all sizes including some of the largest gold and base metals transactions of the last decade. He is experienced in all aspects of M&A, financing, streaming and royalties. Most recently he spent 4 years at NewCastle Gold Ltd. (TSX: NCA) where he served as Vice President of Technical Service and subsequently Vice President of Corporate Development. He has a B.A. from Bishop’s University and a Bachelor of Applied Science from the University of Toronto.
Tony Ricci, CPA, CA, Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Ricci is a CPA, CA with over 25 years of practice experience, mainly with public companies listed on Canadian and U.S. stock exchanges. Mr. Ricci was formerly a director and CFO of Keegan Resources Inc., a director and CFO of Norsemont Mining Inc., and CFO of both Petaquilla Minerals Ltd. and Petaquilla Copper Ltd., companies with a combined market capitalization approaching $2 billion. He is also a director and officer of various other listed companies including in the technology and industrial sectors, and was formerly with KPMG and AMEC Engineering Inc.
R. Bob Singh P.Geo, Vice President Exploration. Mr. Singh is an Exploration Geologist with over 24 years of experience across a wide range of early to advanced stage exploration projects throughout North America. He is an experienced project manager, bringing a high level of computer science to mineral exploration. Bob was part of the team at Dunnedin that identified the significant gold potential at Kahuna.
Christopher Taylor, M.Sc., P.Geo, Strategic Advisor & Director. Mr. Taylor is a structural geologist and explorationist with over 15 years of industry experience with both mid-tier producer and junior exploration companies. He is also a director of a number of Exchange listed resource companies. Chris was part of the team at Dunnedin that identified the significant gold potential at Kahuna, and is CEO of Dunnedin.
Chad Ulansky, P. Geo, Director. Mr. Ulansky is a professional geologist, and is currently President and CEO of Metalex Ventures Ltd. (TSX-V: MTX) and Cantex Mine Development Corp. (TSX-V: CD), as well as serving as director of several public and private mineral exploration companies. Mr. Ulansky has exploration experience that includes the original Ekati diamond discovery and has since spanned fifteen countries on four continents.
Michael G. Leskovec, CPA, CA, Director. Mr. Leskovec is a Chartered Professional Accountant with over 15 years of financial experience with publicly listed companies and capital markets. He currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Nighthawk Gold Corp. (TSX: NHK) and as a Vice-President of Northfield Capital Corporation (TSX-V: NFD.A). Until its sale in 2008 for $1.5 billion to Goldcorp Inc. (TSX:G), Mr. Leskovec served as an Officer of Gold Eagle Mines Ltd. Prior to this, he served as an Audit and Assurance Manager at Smith Nixon LLP, where he managed audit engagements of publicly listed corporations traded on the TSX.
Kahuna Highlights
- Solstice’s Kahuna comprises a district scale land package of 806 km2 adjacent to claims controlled by Agnico Eagle Mines which host the world class Meliadine Deposits (6.7 M Oz gold M&I[R&R Incl.] and 3.6 M Oz Inferred)(Figure 1). Solstice has exclusive secondary rights on an additional 858 km2.
- In late 2016, Dunnedin acquired a proprietary property-wide geophysical and geochemical dataset and, in conjunction with its own data, prepared a new, property wide compilation. It is estimated that this gold-focused database and landholding would cost over $7 million (in 2017 dollars) and several years to replace.
- High definition magnetics outline numerous extensive regional magnetic trends which indicate the potential for geological and structural hosts similar to those at Meliadine (Figure 1)
- Selected till samples, collected in 2016 on 500 m centres, were subsequently analyzed for gold in 2017. In the “Westeros” area, which lies adjacent to the Agnico claims, (see page 15 of the investor presentation) Solstice has identified numerous, continuous gold-in-till (>80th percentile) target areas in gold concentrates. A small percentage of these have been examined to date for gold grains and have yielded pristine gold grains interpreted to be locally derived from within the Kahuna property.
- New geological mapping and sampling on wide spaced traverse lines (0.5 – 1.5 km spacing) by Dunnedin in 2017 has now confirmed the existence of over 10 extensive linear and intensely folded iron formation units, and over 200 km of gold belts interpreted to occur in a similar geological and structural setting to Meliadine.
- Rock sampling on 500 m spaced traverse lines, focussed in the Westeros area, which represents a 40 km long target (unfolded) has identified extensive anomalous gold in bedrock of up to 8.8 g/t Au and angular float up to 34.9 g/t Au. Gold occurs in altered iron formation, quartz vein and metasedimentary hosts (See page 18 of the investor presentation). It is noteworthy that approximately 50% of the priority Westeros area remains to be covered by mapping and sampling. Anomalous gold has also been returned from several other areas of the property which have been only sparsely sampled to date.
- Seven regional target areas have been identified which will be aggressively followed up in 2018. In one such target area (the “Far North”), an extensive and locally folded area of quartz veining 3-5 m thick and extending for over 3 km was discovered late in 2017. Limited sampling over this 13 km-long target area (<10 samples to date) has identified anomalous gold (up to 0.48 g/t Au) and associated, anomalous modified plus pristine gold grain counts in till of up to 22 grains (11 modified and 11 pristine). The gold grains are interpreted to be locally derived.
The 2017 field program was highly successful in advancing the project and was pivotal in the identification of seven priority exploration target areas in the Westeros area along with other regional priority target areas. Our objective will be to identify drill targets at Westeros and to advance other priority areas during 2018.
Figure 1: Property Map
“In looking for new gold opportunities, my criteria are to look for district scale belts which have unrecognized major gold deposit potential in safe political jurisdictions,” said Solstice Executive Chair David Adamson. "Such projects are exceedingly rare but, in reviewing the high-quality work done to date at Kahuna, I believe this is one such opportunity. Agnico Eagle and predecessors at Meliadine have blazed trail in the area. Data from these deposits provide invaluable tools to aid us in advancing the adjacent Kahuna project. In my view, the region is similar to many of the major producing gold districts in the Canadian Shield but, significantly, is only at the beginning of its exploration, development and mining cycle. With an experienced and technically savvy core management team, we are excited about the opportunity and the challenge.”
“We know there are major gold deposits in the region,” added Marty Tunney, President. “We have a district scale land position in similar rocks showing positive signs from work to date. We believe that the region has more gold deposits yet to be found and we control a major portion of that potential.”
Notes:
- Primary Rights include all mineral rights for non-diamond and gemstones excluding any minerals found in kimberlite. Dunnedin Ventures holds Secondary Rights on this ground. Secondary Rights give the holder the right to propose exploration programs on the property related to their mineral rights. Such programs are granted at the discretion of the Primary Rights holder. The agreement allows exclusive right for the parties to exchange rights on their respective claims.
R. (Bob) Singh, P.Geo, is the Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101 standards responsible for reviewing the technical content of this presentation.
About Solstice
Solstice gold is to be created from the spinout by way of a POA of claims and certain gold rights of the Kahuna Project located in Nunavut Canada, plus $1 million from Dunnedin Ventures. It is expected that Solstice, initially spun out as a reporting issuer, will become listed on the TSX-V, subject to regulatory approvals.
At Solstice we believe operational best practice evolves and develops through embracing the communities in which we operate, considering cultural values and lifestyles with ongoing efforts to foster relationships of respect. We look to conduct our business in a transparent manner, seeking input through continuous consultation in an effort to work towards common goals.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
Dunnedin Ventures Inc.
Chris Taylor
Chief Executive Officer
Solstice Gold Corporation
David Adamson, Executive Chairman
Forward Looking Statements
Statements included in this announcement, including statements concerning our plans, intentions and expectations, which are not historical in nature are intended to be, and are hereby identified as, "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements may be identified by words including "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "expects" and similar expressions. FLS in this presentation include comparison with certain geological features at an adjacent development property. There can be no guarantee that continued exploration at Kahuna, which is at an early stage of exploration, will lead to the discovery of an economic gold deposit. The Company cautions readers that forward-looking statements, including without limitation those relating to the Company's future operations and business prospects, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements.
Contact Information
For further information please contact:
Mr. Knox Henderson
Investor Relations
+1-604-551-2360
