News Releases
West Kirkland Mining & Fronteer Gold Sign Option On 11 Fronteer Projects
December 16, 2010
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA - West Kirkland Mining Inc. (WKM:TSXV) (“West Kirkland” or the “Company”) announces the execution of an earn-in option agreement (the “Agreement”) with Fronteer Gold (FRG: TSX) (“Fronteer”) for the exploration of eleven Fronteer properties in Northern Nevada and Utah, including properties located within the Carlin, Battle Mountain and Jerritt Canyon gold trends, covering 234 square kilometers (23,400 hectares).
West Kirkland may earn an initial 51% interest in all of the properties by spending an aggregate $15,400,000 in exploration and development over the next four years. Under the terms of the option agreement, Fronteer will subscribe for 800,000 shares in West Kirkland at $1.25 per share by way of a private placement, for total proceeds of $1,000,000. West Kirkland will use the funds to advance the portfolio of properties.
West Kirkland has agreed to a CDN$ 2,000,000 first year exploration program across the eleven properties. To maintain its option on the entire package in the second year, West Kirkland must spend a further CDN $3,000,000 on exploration and development. After the second year West Kirkland can earn a 51% interest in any designated property by making specific exploration expenditures for that property.
Upon completion of the earn-in requirements, West Kirkland will have a one-time option to earn an additional 9% interest, for a total of 60%, over a subsequent two-year period in any designated project by either: a) completing $4,000,000 in exploration and development costs; or b) by producing a pre-feasibility study, on that designated project.
R. Michael Jones, President of West Kirkland said, “This Agreement fits our business model exactly – exploring large land positions on known gold mine trends. Our ability to focus on these projects while accessing Fronteer’s successful knowledge base and a land position assembled over many years is a great opportunity for our shareholders”.
“These projects have strong potential for growth and discovery. We are extremely pleased to entrust these projects to West Kirkland’s leadership team, who have an exceptional track record in discovering and building deposits, and raising equity. This partnership with West Kirkland gives Fronteer Gold additional exposure to near-term exploration success while we dedicate our full attention and resources to advancing our flagship Long Canyon gold project, and our Nevada development platform, to production,” said Fronteer Gold President and CEO, Mark O’Dea.
The majority of the properties have seen the initial stages of exploration, with surface gold showings identified, but only limited drilling completed thus far. The first step for West Kirkland will be to compile the previous work and develop comprehensive geological models for each of the projects. The most advanced project in the package is the TUG Project where a previous senior company estimated a non 43-101 compliant resource of 907,000 tons grading 0.058 opt (1.99 grams per tonne) gold and 3.11 opt (106.6 grams per tonne) silver. A qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as current mineral resources or mineral reserves. The Company is not treating the historical estimate as current mineral resources or mineral reserves and the historical estimate should not be relied upon. Exploration on the TUG Project will target drilling along potential feeder structures and new areas open for potential increased grades.
Qualified Person, Verification, Quality Control and Assurance
Michael G. Allen, P. Geo, West Kirkland’s Vice President of Exploration is the non-independent qualified person for this news release. He has relevant experience in exploration and development projects in North America over the past twelve years.
About West Kirkland Mining
West Kirkland Mining was formed in 2010 to focus on gold exploration along major trends in North America. The Company has consolidated significant mineral rights positions in the Kirkland Lake area of Canada and along the Carlin trend of Nevada – two of North America’s Premier Gold camps. The founders and Board of West Kirkland Mining have successful gold discovery, development and mine operations experience in both Ontario and Nevada over the past 40 years.
For further information, please see the Company’s website at wkmining.com or contact us by email at info@wkmining.com or call:
West Kirkland Mining Inc.
R. Michael Jones, Michael Allen or Matthew Chandler at (604) 685-8311
Or
Sequoia Partners
Don Graham: 778-558-4310 or
James Beesley: 778-389-7715 or
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange the TSX nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange or the TSX) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information
This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Such information includes, without limitation, information regarding proposed exploration activities. Although the Company believes that such information is reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking information is typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking information provided by the Company is not a guarantee of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking information as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, the state of the financial markets for the Company’s equity securities, the state of the market for gold or other minerals that may be produced generally, recent market volatility; variations in the nature ,quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located, the Company's ability to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required for its activities, to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies and other risks associated with the exploration and development of mineral properties. The reader is referred to the Company's Filing Statement dated March31, 2010 for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects, a copy of which may be accessed through the Company’s page on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
