Newmont Corp.( TSX:NGT, NYSE:NEM) is buying GT Gold Corp. (TSX-V:GTT), with an eye to developing its flagship property – the Tatogga project in northwest B.C.
Newmont, which already owned a 15% stake in GT Gold, is buying the remaining shares for $3.25 per share for a total of $393 million.
“The Tatogga project, including the primary Saddle North deposit, has the potential to contribute significant gold and copper annual production at attractive all-in sustaining costs over a long mine life,” Newmont says in a news release.
The project has the support of the Tahltan First Nation.
“The TCG (Tahltan Central Government) looks forward to working with Newmont in a respectful, meaningful and mutually beneficial way,” said Chad Day, president of the Tahltan Central Government.
GT’s 47,500 hectare Tatogga property near Iskut, B.C. has two “significant discoveries,” Newmont said in its release. The Saddle South is described as a precious metals vein, while Saddle North is characterized as a gold-rich porphyry system.
The B.C. government has been marketing northwest B.C. as the Golden Triangle, a region rich in metals, notably gold and copper. The Northwest Transmission Line was built to bring power to the region specifically to promote exploration and mining. The region also has the advantage of First Nations, notably the Tahltan, that support mining.
Bruce Ralston, minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation, said Newmont’s investment in B.C. is the kind the government has been trying to encourage.
“It's a prime example of the type of mining investment our government is working to attract: investments in potential projects that demonstrate strong partnerships with Indigenous Nations that also respect B.C.'s environment,” he said.
