Altamira Gold Corp (CVE:ALTA) (OTCPINK:EQTRF) (FSE:T6UP) announced it had sold its Crepori gold project in Para state to a small-scale Brazilian gold miner as it continues to transition to a junior gold producer from an exploration firm.
The firm will receive a total of C$500,000 from the sale to Mineracao do Para Ltda (MAP) and retain a 4% net smelter royalty (NSR) following the start of production.
"This agreement is an important step in our transition from an exploration company to a junior gold producer and will add to future revenues, further reducing our need to raise capital through dilutive private placements," Altamira's CEO Mike Bennett told investors.
"The proximity of MAP's existing mining operation to the Crepori project will enable ore from the project area to be processed in the same plant."
Bennett said the move was a part of a recent strategic review of Altamira's assets, after which the group had decided to focus all its efforts on its projects within the Alta Floresta Belt in northern Mato Grosso, most particularly its Cajueiro project towards production in late 2021.
Its Crepori asset is the firm's only project in the Tapajos Belt of Para state, comprising two claim blocks over a total surface area of 6,789 hectares, it noted.
It lies just 5 km north of MAP's small hard-rock gold mining operation which currently produces around 4,200 ounces of gold a year.
At Crepori, an estimated 500,000 ounces of placer gold was recovered in the area during the Tapajos gold rush from 1978 to 1995 and small-scale historical hard-rock mining was also conducted along two gold bearing quartz veins.
In Brazil, Altamira holds nine projects comprising around 280,000 hectares, within the prolific Juruena gold belt which historically produced between 7 and 10 million ounces (Moz) of placer gold.
The company's advanced Cajueiro project has NI 43-101 resources of 5.66 million tonnes (Mt) at 1.02 grams per ton (g/t) gold for 185,000 ounces (oz) in the higher confidence indicated category and 12.66 Mt at 1.26 g/t gold for 515,000 ounces in the inferred.
Contact the author at giles@proactiveinvestors.com.