Victoria Gold Corp has taken control of another central-Yukon gold mine as well as exploration sites by purchasing the Yukon assets of another mining firm.
The acquisition of Sabre Gold Mines Corp’s Yukon subsidiary, Golden Predator Mining Corp., was announced by Victoria Gold on Sept. 14.
“With the acquisition of Sabre’s Yukon assets, we are pleased to be expanding our footprint and asset base in our own backyard. With our track record of exploration, permitting, development and operations in Yukon, we believe we can add value to this portfolio of assets,” said John McConnell, Victoria Gold’s president and CEO.
Victoria Gold also owns the Eagle Mine, an open pit heap leach operation located near Mayo.
Golden Predator is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Victoria Gold following the acquisition. Victoria Gold is paying a total of $13.5 million for the acquisition, some in cash and some in either cash or Victoria Gold shares, with payments due at closing and on the one and two-year anniversaries of the closing date.
With the acquisition comes Sabre’s 100 per cent interest in the Brewery Creek property, a heap leach gold mine that operated from 1997 to 2001 before it was closed. Documentation states the closure included pit backfill re-contouring and heap detoxification, completed in 2004. The mine is located 55 kilometres east of Dawson City, accessible off the Dempster Highway. Per Victoria Gold’s notice about the acquisition, the mine site covers an 181-square-kilometre area.
The Gold Dome and Grew Creek exploration properties, which had also been 100 per cent owned by Sabre, were included in the deal. Gold Dome is a road-accessible property located approximately 25 kilometres west of Mayo, and the Grew Creek property covers a 135-kilometre area off the Robert Campbell Highway near Ross River.
Sabre Gold was formed in 2021 following a merger between Arizona Gold Corp. and Golden Predator Mining Corp. Golden Predator had owned the Brewery Creek mine prior to the merger.
Sabre, through its subsidiary Golden Predator Exploration Ltd., began the process of getting permits to reopen the mine in 2022, submitting an updated project description to the Yukon Environmental and Socio-Economic Assessment Board (YESAB) in August 2022. Subsequent YESAB filings included a project proposal guideline filed on May 15, 2023.
Contact Jim Elliot at jim.elliot@yukon-news.com