Issue link: http://resourceworld.uberflip.com/i/517266
46 www.resourceworld.com j u n e / j u l y 2 0 1 5 miNiNg OntariO Mining and Lands COMMissiOner awards COsts tO sanatana The Ontario Mining and Lands Commissioner (MLC) has ordered Trelawney Mining and Exploration Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of IAMGold Corp. [IMG-TSX; IAG-NYSE], to pay Sanatana Resources Inc. [STA-TSXV] over $400,000 for its costs of defending Trelawney's failed easement application regarding the Watershed claims situated between Timmins and Sudbury, Ontario. In rendering its decision on costs, the MLC tribunal observed in part: "Without question, both parties viewed the (ease- ment) application as raising critically important issues. Counsel for Trelawney described Trelawney's application and the easements requested as a massive under- taking. Counsel for Sanatana, on behalf of Sanatana, stated that the potential impact of granting the requested easements would be to drive his client out of business. As for Section 175 of the Mining Act, this provision raises issues such as whether or not the easement is required; whether any damage or injury caused by granting of the easement can be adequately compensated for; and so on. Historically, individual property rights, and this includes those held in unpatented mining claims being but some of the rights granted to individu- als under the Mining Act, are held in high regard and not readily interfered with. The tribunal thus finds that the issues were important to both parties." Sanatana has an option to earn a 51% interest in the Watershed property from IAMGold and has earned a 50% interest. BC gOvernMent COMpany aCquires arCtOs COaL prOjeCt Fortune Minerals Ltd. [FT-TSX; FTMDF- OTCQX] and POSCO Canada announced the completion of an agreement with the British Columbia Government with respect to their coal licenses located in the Klappan area of northwest British Columbia, Canada, the Arctos Project. Fortune and POSCAN are partners in the Arctos Anthracite Joint Venture. Pursuant to the agreement with the BC government and British Columbia Railway Company, the AAJV sold its interests in 61 con- tiguous coal licenses in the Klappan, totaling 16,411 hectares, to BC Rail for $18,308,000. The AAJV partners maintain the exclusive right to purchase back the coal licenses at the same price for 10 years. If both partners do not wish to exercise the repurchase option, each of them may do so individually. Fortune and POSCAN signed an amending agreement to restruc- ture the AAJV and share the proceeds from the sale of the Arctos coal licenses on an equal basis after purchasing the royalty held by the previous owner of the prop- erty for $308,000. Fortune will use its $9 million share of the funds from this trans- action for working capital and to repay debt. "This is a good outcome for Fortune Minerals in the context of the current mar- ket," said Robin Goad, President and CEO. "Fortune and POSCAN invested significant funds and effort to try to resolve the com- plex First Nations issues associated with the proposed development of the Arctos Project." Fortune and POSCAN sold their respec- tive interests in the Arctos Project to BC Rail in order to allow the Province and Tahltan First Nation to continue their dia- logue on a shared vision for responsible resource management in the Klappan. Fortune owns and operates the Revenue Silver Mine in Colorado and is developing the vertically integrated NICO gold-cobalt-bismuth-copper in the Northwest Territories. eagLe HiLL repOrts pOsitive windfaLL Lake pea Eagle Hill Exploration Corp. [EAG- TSXV] announced the results of an independent Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for its 100%-owned Windfall Lake Gold Project in the Abitibi greenstone belt, Québec. All figures are quoted in Canadian dollars unless other- wise noted. The PEA outlines the design of a 1,200 tonne per day underground mine pro- ducing 106,200 ounces of payable gold annually for 7.8 years at an average total cash cost of $558/oz of gold (US $480/oz). At a base case gold price of US $1,200/oz the project has a pre-tax internal rate of return of 23.6% and a pre-tax net present value discounted at 5% of $241.4 million. Initial project capital costs are estimated at $240.6 million. Eagle Hill intends to complete a pre-fea- sibility study for the Windfall Lake Project by 2017. Next steps include extending the existing ramp and taking a bulk sample, drilling both from surface and under- ground with the objective of expanding and upgrading the quality of the resource and testing continuity of grade, and final- izing the various studies required for a pre-feasibility study. "The results of the PEA are very encouraging, and we believe that optimi- zation of the deposit and proposed mine construction plan could further improve project economics," said David Christie, President & CEO of Eagle Hill. "Additional drilling at surface and at depth, along with underground drilling and a bulk sample, could both expand and upgrade the resource, bringing additional value to the project." n