TORONTO, Aug. 19, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- North American Palladium Ltd. ("NAP" or the "Company") (TSX:PDL) (OTC PINK:PALDF) is pleased to announce that the Company has vested a 51% interest in the Sunday Lake Project (the “Project”). The decision to elect to continue investing in this platinum group metal (PGM) property was supported by encouraging drilling results from the PGM Zone, including the best intersection reported to date (41.2 m grading 3.22 g/t Pt, 2.08 g/t Pd and 0.21 g/t Au in drill hole SL-19-026). After completing two winter drilling programs, the Company has exceeded the mandated two-year exploration expenditure requirement and has completed the requisite cash payments to its partners, comprising $675,000 to Impala Platinum Holdings Limited (“Implats”) and $75,000 to Transition Metals Corp. (“Transition”). Accordingly, Implats’ interest in the joint venture has been reduced to 24% while Transition maintains a 25% free carried interest through to the completion of a Feasibility Study.
Commenting on the transaction, Company CEO and President Jim Gallagher stated, “We are very pleased to partner with Implats and Transition on the Sunday Lake Project, which is NAP’s best blue-sky opportunity and a key element of our long-term strategy to build an inventory of high-quality platinum group metal assets in the Thunder Bay region. We have demonstrated that the PGM Zone has significant lateral continuity and are now able to focus on areas of enhanced thickness and grade.”
About the Sunday Lake Project
The Sunday Lake PGM Project is located 25 km north of Thunder Bay in Jacques Township, approximately 60 km south of NAP’s Lac des Iles Mine operations (“LDI”). The property hosts the Sunday Lake Intrusion, which is part of the Proterozoic Mid-Continental Rift magmatic event that produced the Eagle nickel deposit in Michigan (Lundin Mining) and the Tamarack (Rio Tinto – Talon Resources) and Duluth Complex (Antofagasta PLC) magmatic sulphide deposits in Minnesota.
About the Agreement
Prior to NAP vesting a 51% interest, the Project was a joint venture between Transition and Implats, whereby Implats held a 75% interest and Transition held a 25% free carried interest until the completion of a Feasibility Study, at which time Transition’s interest would convert to a 25% participatory interest.
On June 20, 2017, Transition and Implats collectively signed an Option Agreement with NAP. The Agreement provides NAP with the exclusive right to acquire Implats’ 75% ownership in the Sunday Lake Project by completing the following exploration expenditures and cash payments:
Stage 1: NAP was entitled to acquire a 51% interest in the property by investing $1.5M in exploration expenditures and making cash payments of $75,000 to Transition and $675,000 to Implats within a two-year period. This stage has now been completed.
Stage 2: NAP may increase its interest from 51% to 65% by investing an additional $2.5M in exploration expenditures and making further cash payments of $125,000 to Transition and $1.125M to Implats within a two-year period.
Stage 3: NAP may further increase its interest from 65% to 75% by investing an additional $0.5M in exploration expenditures and making final cash payments of $150,000 to Transition and $1.35M to Implats within a one-year period.
About North American Palladium Ltd.
North American Palladium (TSX:PDL) (OTC PINK:PALDF) is a Canadian company with 25 years of production at the Lac des Iles Mine in a low-risk jurisdiction northwest of Thunder Bay, Ontario. North American Palladium is the world’s only pure play palladium producer. With over 700 employees, the Lac des Iles Mine features a unique, world-class ore body and modern infrastructure, including both an underground mine and surface operations.
For further information, please contact:
North American Palladium Investor Relations at 416-360-7374 or ir@nap.com.
