Golden Independence has signed an agreement to acquire up to a 90% interest in the Wray Mesa uranium project in Utah, US, from Basin Uranium.
According to the option agreement, Golden Independence will provide cash, share and exploration expenditure consideration totalling more than C$4.7m ($3.45m) during the option agreement period.
Golden Independence will initially earn a 51% interest in the project by making C$50,000 in cash and issuing 300,000 shares within five days of approval from the Canadian Securities Exchange.
It will also incur $250,000 in exploration within the first year and pay C$100,000 in cash, issue C$250,000 worth of stock and incur $500,000 of exploration expenditure by the end of the second year.
Upon completion of the 51% earn-in, Golden Independence will have the option to earn a 20% additional stake by making an additional cash payment of C$75,000, issuance of C$250,000 worth of stock, and incurring $1,000,000 in exploration costs by the end of the third year.
Furthermore, Golden Independence can earn an additional 19% stake in the project by making a C$75,000 cash payment and issuance of C$250,000 worth of stock. It will also incur $1m in exploration costs by the end of the fourth year.
Basin Uranium will have free carried a 10% interest in the project once Golden Independence has earned a 90% interest.
Basin Uranium CEO Michael Blady said: “With Basin Uranium’s focus firmly shifted towards its Chord project in South Dakota, this agreement allows the project to advance while still providing the company exposure to an exciting uranium district in Utah.
“We look forward to working with the Golden Independence team as the project operator under the initial earn-in agreement to advance the understanding of the project and better define the areas of historical mineralisation.”
Located in San Juan County, the Wray Mesa project comprises 308 unpatented lode claims that cover a total area of 6,282 acres.
The project is located near Energy Fue’s production-ready La Sal project, which comprises several past-producing uranium and vanadium mines.
Golden Independence CEO Jeremy Poirier said: "The ability to acquire a majority interest in an advanced-stage uranium project, which has benefited from extensive past exploration and drilling located within a tier-one jurisdiction, provides an exciting opportunity for shareholders to gain exposure to the growing energy trend while maintaining a tier-one portfolio for both gold and uranium."
