HighGold Mining Inc (CVE:HIGH) (OTCQX:HGGOF) has increased the size of its Munro-Croesus gold project in Timmins, Ontario by 40% and plans to drill there again in February next year.
On Monday, the company announced it had acquired, with cash and shares, three new properties from various arm's length vendors, consolidating its ground into one contiguous property with an area of 28 square kilometres (sq km).
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CEO Darwin Green noted that this "strategic land position" had received almost no contemporary exploration due to the historically fractured land ownership.
"This represents a rare opportunity in a mature and productive gold jurisdiction and we are excited to initiate the first modern, systematic exploration of the greater project area," he said.
"Central to our exploration thesis is a high conviction that the exceptional tenor of gold grades produced from the Croesus mine near the turn of the last century does not occur in isolation and is indicative of a highly fertile gold environment."
HighGold is the first company to have consolidated surrounding claims around the historic Croesus mine under single ownership.
The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) holds five Croesus ore specimen samples that collectively weigh 85 pounds and contain 480.7 ounces of gold.
As well as the past-producing Croesus mine, the project hosts numerous pits, trenches and exploration shafts developed early in the last century, while several plus 1 million ounce gold deposits lie within a 2-to-7 km radius.
For the new projects, HighGold will pay cash in total of C$100,000 to the vendors, and will issue 424,976 of its shares.
The acquired properties are subject to certain net smelter returns royalties (NSRs), a portion of which can be bought back by the company.
Also in today's statement, the company confirmed it had completed the previously announced fall drill program at its Ontario properties, with assays pending.
Four holes totaling 1,179 meters were completed at the Golden Mile property, while 31 shallow holes totaling 2,645 meters were completed at the Munro-Croesus property.
Shares nudged up 1.95% in Toronto to C$1.57 each.
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Contact the author at giles@proactiveinvestors.com