Japan Gold (TSX-V:JG) Corp said it has completed “thorough” field and data review of the 29 projects under its alliance with Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) Corp. (TSX:ABX, NYSE:GOLD)
Japan Gold said the reviews identified a number of highly-prospective areas that could warrant further exploration by either company.
It noted that Barrick is poised to make a decision as to whether the projects meet the mining giant’s criteria for advancement under the Alliance by August 31, 2022.
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Under the alliance agreement, Barrick agreed to sole fund a two-year evaluation of all 29 projects and sole fund a subsequent three-year second evaluation phase on projects which meet its criteria.
In February 2022, Barrick requested a six-month extension to the two-year initial evaluation phase to August 31, 2022, citing delays and travel restrictions caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
According to Japan Gold, Barrick's criteria for project advancement requires the potential for a project to host either a Tier 1 or Tier 2 ore body. Barrick defines Tier 1 projects as having five million ounce or greater potential with annual production of at least 500,000 ounces of gold for 10 years, while Tier 2 projects should have three million ounce or greater potential with annual production of 300,000 ounces of gold for 10 years.
Whatever the decision by Barrick, Japan Gold said it will continue to fully support and manage the Alliance Second Phase Evaluation programs.
"With the thorough evaluations completed by the Alliance, the company now holds a comprehensive and unique data set on Japan's epithermal-gold districts and is positioned to advance areas of high-prospectivity which don't fit Barrick's criteria but can still host large high-grade gold deposits,” Japan Gold CEO John Proust told shareholders in a statement.
Japan Gold holds a portfolio of 31 gold projects which cover areas with known gold occurrences, a history of mining and are prospective for high-grade epithermal gold mineralization across the three largest islands of Japan - Hokkaido, Honshu and Kyushu.
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