Benz Mining (TSXV: BZ) announced that it has acquired an option to earn a 100% interest in the Ruby Hill West and Ruby Hill East properties, located west of its Eastmain gold mine project in James Bay District, Quebec.
In a press release, Benz explained that the deal is with Eastmain Resources, with whom the company had a previous agreement that required it to incur $500,000 in exploration expenditures by October 23, 2020, and add such expenditures to the work requirement for the period ending October 23, 2022, in order to acquire up to a 100% interest in the Eastmain gold mine.
The principal exploration targets on the Ruby Hill West and East properties correspond to volcanic-hosted lode gold deposits characterized by stratabound, disseminated and massive chalcopyrite-pyrrhotite-pyrite veinlets
The new amending agreement, thus, adds the Ruby Hill West and Ruby Hill East properties to the Eastmain gold mine project. Benz can earn a 75% interest in such properties by making cash payments totalling $375,000, issuing 2,000,000 common shares of Benz or making a cash payment in an amount to enable Eastmain to acquire 2,000,000 common shares of Benz within three months, and issuing 4,000,000 share purchase warrants.
Benz will have the right to earn an additional 25% interest in the Ruby Hill West and Ruby Hill East properties by paying an additional $100,000 to Eastmain by October 23, 2025.
Ruby Hill West includes one block of 180 contiguous mining claims totalling 9,485 hectares which includes more than 30 kilometres of strike along a favourable volcano-sedimentary greenstone sequence within Upper Eastmain River greenstone belt. The concessions are approximately 25 kilometres west of the Eastmain gold mine project.
Ruby Hill East includes one block of 88 contiguous mining claims totalling 4,640 hectares and which are immediately west and contiguous to the Eastmain gold mine project concessions.
Including the Eastmain mine project, Benz now controls more than 22,100 hectares of ground in the prospective Upper Eastmain River greenstone belt.