Sonoro Gold Corp (TSX-V:SGO, OTCQB:SMOFF, FRA:23SP) said on Tuesday its Mexican subsidiary has signed three binding letters of intent to acquire interests in 29 mineral concessions adjacent to its Cerro Caliche gold project in Sonora, Mexico, in a move the company says could reveal a larger epithermal gold system.
The deals, signed by wholly owned subsidiary Minera Mar de Plata with two arm’s-length Sonora residents, cover a 100% interest in 24 concessions spanning 5,025 hectares for US$6 million payable over 20 months, plus the assumption of approximately US$990,000 in outstanding concession fees, with no securities issued or royalty interests granted.
A third letter of intent grants the subsidiary an option to earn up to a 51% interest in five additional concessions covering roughly 454 hectares, through US$9 million in exploration expenditures over four years, at a rate of 12.75% interest earned per US$2.25 million spent.
The acquisitions would expand the Cerro Caliche property from nearly 4,000 hectares to 9,001 hectares, with a further 454 hectares accessible through the potential 51% stake.
“This acquisition has the potential to build Cerro Caliche into a larger-scale gold mining project with multiple major mineralized zones stretching from the Agnico Eagle Santa Gertrudis deposit to the north down all the way to the Highlander Silver Mercedes Mine to the southeast,” said Kenneth MacLeod, Sonoro’s CEO.
Sonoro said its exploration team is reviewing roughly 30 years of historical data across the 24 new concessions, including soil and rock geochemical samples, drilling campaigns and geophysical surveys. The company said the new ground may share similar geological and structural characteristics to those identified at Cerro Caliche, and that historical drilling data suggests the five optioned concessions could host extensions of the project’s known northwest-trending mineralized corridors.
Cerro Caliche is currently in the final permitting stage for a proposed open-pit, heap leach mining operation. A 2026 preliminary economic assessment based on a gold price of US$3,500 per ounce outlines an after-tax net present value of US$224 million and an internal rate of return of 50% for a 10-year, 16,000-tonne-per-day operation.
Completion of the transactions remains subject to due diligence and the execution of definitive agreements.
Source: finance.yahoo.com
