Whitehorse Daily Star

Globe’s largest gold producer terminates option with ATAC

Barrick Gold Corp. has terminated its option with ATAC Resources to acquire an interest in the Orion Project northeast of Keno City of Mayo, ATAC announced last week.

By Chuck Tobin on December 18, 2018

Barrick Gold Corp. has terminated its option with ATAC Resources to acquire an interest in the Orion Project northeast of Keno City of Mayo, ATAC announced last week.

Barrick Gold is the largest gold mining company in the world.

It bought into ATAC in April 2017 for $8.3 million to gain a 19.9 per cent in the company with an option to spend $55 million more to gain a 70 per cent interest in Orion.

“We would like to thank Barrick for its exceptional collaboration and sharing its extensive knowledge of Carlin-style systems with ATAC over the past two years,” Graham Downs, ATAC’s president and CEO, said in a press release announcing the termination.

“Though early results from the Orion Project may not meet the corporate thresholds at Barrick, the project remains a highly-prospective mineral asset in a top-tier jurisdiction.

“With over $10 million in working capital, ATAC remains well-positioned to continue exploration in 2019 across the Rackla Property, including the Orion Project.”

The Orion project is one of three projects making up ATAC’s Rackla Property, along with the Osiris Project and the Rau Project.

Downs explained in an interview Monday the option agreement called for Barrick to spend $10 million this year on exploration at the Orion Project.

Barrick fulfilled the terms and the drill results were promising, he said.

“All that data and information that was gathered from the $10 million belongs to ATAC,” Downs said.

“It was a great relationship. What it did do is we now know where to focus our exploration in that part of the project.”

Barrick, headquartered in Toronto, is one of several major gold producers who have invested in the Yukon in recent years.

Vancouver-based Goldcorp, the fourth-largest gold producer in the world, continues to advance its Coffee Mine Project 130 kilometres south of Dawson City, on the west side of the Yukon River.

Be the first to comment

Add your comments or reply via Twitter @whitehorsestar

In order to encourage thoughtful and responsible discussion, website comments will not be visible until a moderator approves them. Please add comments judiciously and refrain from maligning any individual or institution. Read about our user comment and privacy policies.

Your name and email address are required before your comment is posted. Otherwise, your comment will not be posted.