Sonoro Metals Corp. (TSX.V: SMO) ("Sonoro" or the "Company") announces that through its wholly-owned Mexican subsidiary, Minera Mar de Plata, S.A. de C.V., it has entered into an assignment agreement (the "Agreement") with Agnico Sonora, S.A. de C.V. ("Agnico"), a subsidiary of Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. (TSX: AEM), for the sale to Agnico of Sonoro's Chipriona project in Mexico for $4 million plus a 1% net smelter returns royalty ("NSR"). The NSR may be purchased by Agnico at any time for $1.5 Million.
The Chipriona project is located in the Mulatos Mining District in Sonora State and is comprised of several concessions totaling 515 hectares, covering the Chipriona group of concessions, Los Pinos concession and private land near or adjacent to Agnico's La India gold mine. The Chipriona concessions account for approximately 4% of Sonoro's total exploration portfolio of 14,351 hectares.
Consideration for the Agreement is to be paid in four tranches by Agnico, with an initial installment of $650,000 payable upon execution of the Agreement. Three additional sequential installments of $650,000, $800,000 and $1,900,000 respectively are due and payable over the coming months following registration of title at Mexico's Public Registry of Mining, commencing with the registration of title from the original vendors through to final registration under Agnico.
"We are pleased with the significant value being realized by Sonoro's shareholders from the sale of the Chipriona project," said Kenneth MacLeod, President and CEO of Sonoro. "The $4 million cash injection into Sonoro's treasury without any resulting share dilution provides ample capital for the ongoing exploration of the Company's San Marcial project in Mexico and the Hilltop project in Alaska."
Sonoro's technical team is preparing the 2017 exploration program at the San Marcial gold/silver project, currently under option to purchase by the Company, located 20 km east of Timmins Gold's operating San Francisco Mine in the prolific Sonora-Mojave Megashear geologic structure of Sonora State. The San Marcial property includes the original mine workings of the San Marcial and Soledad mines that were developed during the early 1900s. Recent exploration by Sonoro has confirmed and expanded upon the presence of four anomalous zones within the 1,000 hectare concessions. Follow-up geological mapping and sampling are planned to commence in January 2017 within the 4 main large gold anomalies in addition to the investigation of three smaller gold anomalous areas. Further details may be found in a Sonoro news release dated March 4, 2016.
Sonoro is also earning a 60% interest in the 12,836 hectare Hilltop Gold Project in Alaska. An exploration program conducted at Hilltop in 2015 confirmed known gold mineralization there. Soils and trenching in an area of previous exploration exposed an emerging gold in soils footprint and included rock samples from new trenching with values to 19.45 g/t Au from continuous channel samples in flat lying arsenopyrite bearing quartz veins collected in Trench 5 from the 1.0 to 2.0 m interval in a zone that averaged 9.71 g/t Au from the interval 0.0 to 4.0 m as more fully described in the Company's news release dated August 10, 2015. Due diligence soil sampling at Hilltop South confirmed the anomalous nature of that area and expanded the footprint of anomalous gold in soils to 400m x 1,800m. Continuation of the exploration program is being planned for 2017.
About Sonoro Metals Corp.
Sonoro Metals Corp. is a TSX Venture Exchange listed ("SMO-TSXV") exploration and development company with a portfolio of precious metals properties in Sonora, Mexico and Alaska, USA. Sonoro's skilled exploration team in Mexico is headed by Hermosillo-based Chief Geologist Melvin Herdrick, with 45 years of mine related experience, including 10 years as Chief Geologist for Phelps Dodge in Mexico followed by 7 years as Vice President, Exploration for Pediment Gold in Mexico until its takeover by Argonaut Gold in 2011. Sonoro's Chief Operating Officer is professional geologist Stephen Kenwood, with over 20 years of experience in mineral exploration and development.
Source: Sonoro Metals
Original Article: http://www.sonorometals.com/news/2016/12142016/
