Goldcorp, MetalCORP ink partnership.

• Author: Wareing, Andrew
• Position: Mining

Two companies are coming together in the northwest to develop gold rich property in the Red Lake gold district. Early in September, Goldcorp Inc. and junior mining company MetalCORP Limited announced they were entering into a deal in which Goldcorp will be receiving 50 per cent interest in MetalCORP's Black Bear property in northwestern Ontario, approximately 130 kilometres north of Kenora. Goldcorp will be spending $1.8 million on exploration and making cash payments to MetalCORP totaling $120,000 over four years.

MetalCORP will be the operator of the property for the first two years or upon expenditures of $750,000.

Goldcorp will also be able to earn a further 20 per cent interest by spending an additional $1.8 million over three years for total exploration expenditures of $3.6 million.

On completion of Goldcorp's option, a joint venture will be formed between the two companies on a 50-50 or 70-30 basis.

"We have the project and they want to come in on the project," says Aubrey Eveleigh, vice-president of exploration for MetalCORP. "We're well located in the area and they feel there is some potential for the property to find gold and they want to be a part of it.

"From our standpoint, it gives us a lot of notoriety and credibility to get a company like Goldcorp involved," he says. "It takes a lot of money and effort to find a deposit. It's a bit of process...we would otherwise raise the money by going to the market to raise the funding, but in this case, we instantly get the financing because Goldcorp is funding it for us. We offer a percentage so Goldcorp can earn in.

"It's a good situation for us," he says. "We had other offers on the property, but we chose Goldcorp for obvious reasons."

The Black Bear property consists of 108 claim units over 4,320 acres covering the northeast extension of the East Bay Deformation Zone (EBDZ) in the Red Lake camp. Historically, this region has produced 20 million ounces of gold at an average grade of .4 ounces per ton.

"It's a bit of a hot area," says Eveleigh. "It's an area that has been receiving a lot of attention. There's been a lack of exploration in that particular area and work in that area recently has turned up some gold discoveries."

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He says Red Lake has a "good history of production" with a high grade of production compared to most gold camps in Canada.

"We have two of Canada's premiere gold producers in the area...