Minto Metals Corp (TSX-V:MNTO) said it has received a new permit from the Government of Yukon to explore its Minto Mine property in the Canadian territory.
The 10-year, Class 4 Quartz Mining Land Use Permit enables Minto to drill, survey and undergo other exploration activities on its mining claims.
It covers the Minto Mine property, a 26-square-kilometre area comprised of 164 quartz mining claims within the R-06A Settlement Lands of the Selkirk First Nation.
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The receipt of the exploration permit is a cornerstone of Minto’s strategy to reignite exploration efforts on the Minto claims after nearly a decade of no exploration drilling on the property, CEO Chris Stewart told shareholders.
“We are excited to begin drill testing previously unexplored, high potential targets close to our existing mine operations infrastructure and hope to build upon our current 23 million tonne resource," Stewart said in a statement.
"We continue to work closely with the Selkirk First Nation and the Yukon Government on our permitting requirements and are pleased to have received our exploration permit at this time."
Minto is planning a C$9.2 million exploration program this year, which will include 30,000 metres of diamond drilling, surface geophysics and surveying.
The program will focus on untested, high-priority exploration targets from previous operators where initial drill testing has not been conducted since 2012. Minto believes that these untested, high potential targets include possible extensions to the Minto North, Area 2 and Ridgetop orebodies as well as zones at a depth between the Minto Main Pit and Minto North Pit.
The company will focus the 2022 drill plan on the remaining targets from a previous survey from 2010 and will further supplement the target database and drill test new targets generated by the magnetotellurics survey in 2022.
Separately, Minto said it had granted stock options exercisable for an aggregate of 705,626 common shares to the senior leadership team and executive officers of the company in lieu of cash payments due under the 2021 Short Term Incentive Program. The options are exercisable at a price of $2.60 per share for a period of five years from the date of grant and vested fully on the grant date.
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