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Advanced Gold Exploration has granted Stage Capital Corp. (SCC) an option to acquire a 60% interest in its Buck Lake copper-silver VMS project, about 50 km northeast of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, in a three-year earn-in that would convert into a joint venture once SCC has fully vested.
"Our first order of business at the property is to fly VTEM and horizontal magnetic gradiometer geophysical survey across our 3-km-length VMS target," said chairman Jim Atkinson, who framed the agreement as a continuation of the company's project-generator model. Atkinson noted that Advanced Gold recently sold its Melba property to Heritage Mining and that the SCC deal "clearly demonstrates the execution of our model."
To earn its 60% interest under the May 12 option agreement, SCC must hit cash, share and expenditure milestones over three years. SCC has already paid $50,000 on signing. Within 10 business days of listing on a recognized stock exchange (the "Listing Date"), it must issue 400,000 SCC common shares to Advanced Gold, and within 12 months it must spend at least $200,000 on exploration at Buck Lake. In year two, SCC must pay another $60,000 in cash on or before the first anniversary, issue another 500,000 shares on or before the first anniversary of the Listing Date, and spend an additional $300,000 on exploration. In year three, SCC must pay $80,000, issue another 600,000 shares and spend a further $450,000. SCC can accelerate any of those obligations at its discretion, and excess spending carries forward. If SCC fails to complete its Listing Date within 18 months of the May 12 effective date, the option terminates automatically.
Once SCC has met all of the cash, share and expenditure obligations, it will vest a 60% interest and a joint venture will form with SCC at 60% and Advanced Gold at 40%. SCC will be the initial operator, and each party will fund its proportionate share of approved programs and budgets thereafter. Any party diluted below a 10% interest will automatically convert its position into an additional 1% net smelter return royalty.
The Buck Lake property is fully permitted and consists of 180 single-cell mining claims covering roughly 3,886 hectares in Lunkie and Gapp townships, within the Batchewana greenstone belt. It hosts a classic volcanogenic massive sulphide system characterized by a 3,000-metre-long electromagnetic corridor. Drilling completed by Advanced Gold between 2022 and 2025 intersected massive and semi-massive sulphide in 13 of 15 holes. Discovery hole BL-22-05 returned 1.51% copper and 18.2 g/t silver over 11.75 metres, including a high-grade core of 4.59% copper and 54.6 g/t silver over 3.2 metres. Historical localized sampling on the property has yielded peak values up to 15% copper and 15% zinc.
Advanced Gold Exploration is a Canadian mineral exploration company with a portfolio of gold and copper properties, including the Doyle and Buck Lake projects in Ontario and the recently acquired Silver Belle property in Nevada. Closing of the SCC option remains subject to Canadian Securities Exchange approval and other regulatory consents.