Taiga Gold (TGC.C) has confirmed it received a C$3M cash payment from SSR Mining (SSRM, SSRM.TO) as the final requirement for the latter to earn an 80% stake in the Fisher gold project in Saskatchewan. Just two months after notifying Taiga Gold it has met all the requirements for an initial 60% stake in the Fisher project by spending C$12M on exploration (much more than required), SSR Mining is putting its cards on the table by immediately completing the second stage at Fisher.
Both companies have now officially formed an 80/20 joint venture and this now also means Taiga Gold will have to start contributing its fair share of the future exploration programs. This shouldn’t be an issue as the C$3M cash payment from SSR Mining will go a long way to cover the 20% contribution in 2020 and 2021. Additionally, Taiga will still receive the C$100,000 annual advance royalty payment which will help to cover the overhead expenses. The combination of exploration expenditures and cash payments to Taiga Gold and Eagle Plains Resources (EPL.V) means SSR Mining has now invested over C$15M in the Fisher project so they must see some potential and a path forward towards defining a resource.
CEO Tim Termuende has provided more context and color in two recent interviews, which you can listen to HERE and HERE. SSR and Taiga are still waiting for the assay results from the fall drill campaign, and we expect to see those drill results within the next few weeks.
Disclosure: The author has no position in Taiga Gold. Taiga Gold is a sponsor of the website. Please read our disclaimer.
