Former Goldcorp founder, chairman and CEO Rob McEwen is set to become the largest shareholder in Canadian mineral exploration and development company Satori Resources.
McEwen will purchase a 37.6% stake in the company to expand the high-grade gold zones at the past-producing Tartan Lake Gold Mine in Flin Flon, Manitoba.
Also, Satori would acquire McEwen’s fully-owned exploration company Apollo Exploration, which has been acquiring projects around large-scale gold mines and projects in Canada.
Apollo acquired Canadian Malartic Mine from Agnico Eagle, the Hemlo Mine from Barrick Gold, and the Hammond Reef Project from Agnico Eagle.
Upon closing, Apollo will also have around C$1.5m in cash and without any debt.
Satori will be renamed and given a new ticker symbol, and the new enterprise will have about C$2.2m in cash with no debt.
Rob McEwen will have the right to appoint two board members to represent his ownership.
Alex McEwen, the son of Rob McEwen, will be appointed to the Satori Board of Directors, with another director to be named in the future.
Alex McEwen is the co-founder and owner of Remote Power, a company focused on electrifying industrial projects in mining, energy, and construction.
Satori’s current CEO Jennifer Boyle will continue with the company as a member of the executive team and director, and a new CEO will be appointed.
Rob McEwen said: “The new Satori will combine its advanced gold play having significant underground infrastructure situated in a mineral-rich district with Apollo’s cash position and strategically located projects next to some of the largest gold mines in Canada.”
Tartan Lake mine will see the first deep follow-up drill programme to reach around 800m below the surface to expand and define the Hanging Wall Zone discovery made in December 2021.
The earlier drill programme at the mine intersected 23.76g/t over gold 12.6m, including 47.56g/t gold over 5.8m.
Data from the planned deep drill programme, together with the previous drilling since 2017, will be used to update the NI 43-101 Resource Estimate.
The updated Resource Estimate will form the basis of a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) study, to estimate the capital required to reopen the Tartan Lake mine.
Satori chief executive officer Jennifer Boyle said: “Since refinancing Satori over the past 2 years, our small drilling campaigns intercepted grades at Tartan Lake that were not only consistent with historic drilling but resulted in some of the highest grades ever reported at the mine.
“Having Rob McEwen involved at this juncture is key to unlocking the potential of this project, which has been underexplored and under-funded for decades.”
