North Of 60

Sabina Faces a Huge Challenge in Nunavut

By Ted Niles

The Canadian Arctic contains the largest reserve of unexploited natural resources in the world. But they have remained unexploited for good reasons: savage weather and nominal infrastructure. Even as talk of climbing temperatures and Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s commitment to the region excite interest, the cost of development remains a dauntingly high barrier to entry for such as Sabina Gold & Silver.

In response to this challenge, Sabina announced June 2 that it had sold its Nunavut Hackett River Project and some Wishbone Greenbelt Belt claims to Swiss mining giant Xstrata for $50 million and a silver production royalty equal to 22.5% of the first 190 million ounces of payable silver and 12.5% thereafter. President/CEO Tony Walsh explained that the deal “transforms Sabina into a purely precious metals company… Our goal is to become a mid-tier gold company producing between 300K to 400K ounces of gold per year from Back River, a project scope we believe we can expedite.”

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