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Northern Tiger pounces on new property

Northern Tiger Resources is snapping up an exciting new claim. The Edmonton-based mining junior is acquiring 3Ace, a property in the mountains overlooking the Hyland River Valley north of Watson Lake.
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Northern Tiger Resources is snapping up an exciting new claim.

The Edmonton-based mining junior is acquiring 3Ace, a property in the mountains overlooking the Hyland River Valley north of Watson Lake.

The claim turned heads at the Yukon Geosciences Forum in November, when Mike Burke, Yukon’s boss of mineral services, enthused he had never seen so much gold in a vein.

“A lot of geologists would never uncover a rock with that much gold in it. It’s an incredible amount of gold,” said CEO Greg Hayes. “We don’t know how big it is yet. But it’s amazingly rich.”

A sample taken from the site “would be a really attractive specimen for people’s private collections,” said Hayes. “We had a guy from the Royal Ontario Museum drooling on the rock.”

The find was made by long-time prospector Alex McMillan, who is the father of Liard McMillan, chief of the Liard First Nation.

In an option agreement yet to be approved by market regulators and Northern Tiger’s board, McMillan would receive $500,000 in cash and 2 million shares in Northern Tiger. The company would spend $700,000 exploring the property over four years.

Annual advanced royalties of $45,000 would begin after the fifth anniversary of the agreement up until production begins. During production, McMillan would also receive a portion of the mine’s profits.

Northern Tiger was spun off from Firestone Resources in June, 2008, to allow Firestone to focus on developing its property in Guatemala.

Northern Tiger’s flagship property in the Yukon is Sonora Gulch, sits adjacent to the Tintina Gold Belt. That’s the same mineral formation that created the White Gold District near Dawson City.

The largest shareholder of the new company is the owner of Yukon’s only operating hard-rock mine, Capstone Mining Corporation, which holds 13 per cent of its shares. Capstone has handed Northern Tiger five properties near Minto to explore. Capstone retains the right to buy back these properties if they prove suitable for use to feed Minto mine.

Having a cozy relationship with the operators of Minto mine gives Northern Tiger several competitive advantages over rival exploration companies, said Hayes.

They’re able to stage supplies at the Minto mine site, tap into the expertise of Capstone’s geologists, and “having them as your partner definitely gives you a lot of legitimacy,” he said.

It’s also a good time to be mining in the Tintina Gold Belt, which has attracted much attention, first by Underworld Resources’ announcement that it believes it’s sitting on one million ounces of gold, and most recently by news that Kinross Gold Corporation, which is one of Canada’s biggest gold producers, has bought Underworld in a friendly takeover.

Hayes offered big kudos to Shawn Ryan, the Klondike prospector who discovered Underworld’s property.

“A lot of the reason attention is coming to the Yukon is thanks to Sean and his work. He’s done it by being smart and working very hard at it.

“He’s had a huge, huge impact on what’s going on in the industry.”

Contact John Thompson at johnt@yukon-news.com.