NAPs neighbor to the South news
Benton and Rio Tinto Replace Purchase and Sale with Option to Acquire 100% Ownership of the Escape Lake Property
8:34 am ET October 10, 2019 (Newsfile) Print
Thunder Bay, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - October 10, 2019) - Benton Resources Inc. (TSXV: BEX) ('Benton' or 'the Company') is pleased to announce that Rio Tinto Exploration Canada Inc. (RTEC) and the Company have agreed to terminate the purchase agreement signed on July 2, 2019 (see NR dated July 2, 2019) and replace it with an option agreement pursuant to which RTEC will grant Benton the option to acquire a 100% ownership interest in the Escape Lake property, subject to a 1% net smelter return royalty to be retained by RTEC, in exchange for payment of $6 million by Benton to RTEC over a three year period as set out below. The option agreement is conditional on receipt of regulatory approval.
Option Terms
Benton will now have the option to acquire the Escape Lake property by paying C$6 million over four installments as follows:
C$3.0 million due on signing, immediately following receipt of regulatory approval
C$1.0 million on the first anniversary of the signing of the agreement
C$1.0 million on the second anniversary of the signing of the agreement and
C$1.0 million on the third anniversary of the signing of the agreement
Stephen Stares, President and CEO, stated: "We are delighted to have renegotiated the agreement with RTEC which provides Benton with ample time to start exploration drilling as soon as permits are in place without suffering dilution to raise the full $6 million up front. While Benton has cash in-hand to complete the initial option payment and to commence drilling, we are working diligently to secure possible financiers and or partners to complete the remaining payments. With the project located only 50 km from the Company's office in Thunder Bay, the project is well-situated to aggressively move forward. In addition, the project lies approximately 60 km south of North American Palladium's (NAP) Lac des Illes Mine and less then 10 km east of NAP/Transition Metals' Sunday Lake Intrusion".
Drilling highlights on the 220 hectare Escape Lake Property include:
121.6 m @ 2.49 g/t Pt+Pd+Au (1.04g/t Pt + 1.37g/t Pd + 0.07g/t Au) and 0.86% Cu+Ni (0.52% Cu + 0.34% Ni), incl. 33.4 m of 7.28 g/t Pt+Pd+Au (3.01g/t Pt + 4.08g/t Pd + 0.19g/t Au) and 2.26% Cu+Ni (1.49% Cu + 0.77% Ni) in drill hole 12CL0009, and 162 m @ 1.42 g/t Pt+Pd+Au (0.61g/t Pt + 0.76g/t Pd + 0.06g/t Au) and 0.47% Cu+Ni (0.28% Cu + 0.19% Ni), incl. 40.67 m 4.5 g/t Pt+Pd+Au (1.92g/t Pt + 2.48g/t Pd + 0.18g/t Au) and 1.26% Cu+Ni (0.89% Cu + 0.36% Ni) in drill hole 11CL0005.
QP
Nathan Sims (P.Geo.), Senior Exploration Manager for Benton Resources Inc., the 'Qualified Person' under National Instrument 43-101, has approved the scientific and technical disclosure in this news release and prepared or supervised its preparation.
On behalf of the Board of Directors of Benton Resources Inc.,
"Stephen Stares"
Stephen Stares, President
About Benton Resources Inc.
Benton Resources is a well-funded Canadian-based project generator with a diversified property portfolio in Gold, Silver, Nickel, Copper, and Platinum group elements. Benton holds multiple high-grade projects available for option which can be viewed on the Company's website. Most projects have an up-to-date 43-101 Report available.
