Development progresses at Golden Arrow's Chinchillas project as investors await Silver Standard Resources' business combination decision, which is due by March.
Golden Arrow Resources Corp. (GRG:TSX.V; GAC:FSE; GARWF:OTCQB) and Silver Standard Resources Inc. (SSO:TSX; SSRI:NASDAQ) entered into a business combination agreement in October 2015 for the joint development of Golden Arrow's Chinchillas project and "an agreement to combine the producing Pirquitas Mine and the Chinchillas project, located approximately 35 kilometres apart in Jujuy Province of Argentina, into a single new operation." The joint venture would be 75% owned by Silver Standard and 25% owned by Golden Arrow.
During the 18-month preliminary period, Silver Standard would invest up to approximately US$12.6 million "at Chinchillas to advance the project and evaluate the feasibility of developing a combined mining business with its existing Pirquitas operation."
Development has advanced at Chinchillas since that time. On Dec. 20, 2016, Joseph Grosso, chairman, president and CEO of Golden Arrow, noted that "as of the end of September 2016, Silver Standard has invested approximately $11M USD to advance the project towards pre-feasibility. In 2016, work completed included: a Phase VI drill program, an upgraded resource estimate, metallurgical studies, engineering studies, environmental monitoring, and community relations programs. The Environmental Report, which is the major mine permit application, was submitted to the authorities in September."
Grosso also noted that "currently at Chinchillas, there are two drills working to complete detailed geo-mechanical and hydrogeological programs in and around the designed open pit by mid-December. Exploration work is also continuing both at Chinchillas and regionally, to delineate additional potential ore feed for the proposed operation."
Investors are awaiting Silver Standard's decision. Byron King, in the Jan. 10 issue of Jim Rickards' Gold Speculator, stated, "We're now on the countdown to March, by which time Silver Standard will have to announce a decision on its smelter in northern Argentina. If the smelter is to remain open, Silver Standard will need ore, and that ore will most likely come from a nearby site owned by Golden Arrow. Golden Arrow offers significant upside in a rising environment for gold-silver."
