Fronteer Options Out New Turkish Gold Property
Fronteer Development Group Inc. announce that it has signed an option agreement with Newmont Altin Madencilik Limited Sirketi, a subsidiary of Newmont Mining Corporation, to explore Yuntdag, a promising grass-roots gold property located in western Turkey and 100% owned by Fronteer.
Newmont may earn up to a 75% interest in Yuntdag by investing US$6.5 million over a six-year period. Under the terms of the two-phase agreement, Newmont may earn an initial 51% interest in Yuntdag within 36 months by spending US$1.5 million on exploration. Newmont may then earn an additional 24% interest by spending a further US$5.0 million on exploration before the sixth anniversary of the agreement.
Yuntdag is an early-stage exploration project located approximately 23 kilometres southeast of Koza Gold’s Ovacik Gold Mine in the Izmir province of western Turkey. The property comprises 4,270 hectares of precious minerals licenses covering a prospective 7.5-square-kilometre ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer) anomaly. Surface geochemistry and mapping by Fronteer suggest that Yuntdag has the potential to host a high sulfidation gold system.
The Yuntdag option deal extends the two companies’ working relationship and Fronteer’s gold portfolio in Turkey. Newmont USA Limited, another subsidiary of Newmont Mining Corporation, is currently earning an initial 51% interest in Fronteer’s Sandman project in Nevada by spending US$14 million on exploration and development and making a positive production decision by June 2011.
Fronteer has built and retained an interest in an emerging gold and copper-gold mineral district in northwestern Turkey’s Biga region. Fronteer and Teck Cominco’s Turkish subsidiary (TCAM) have 60%-40% joint ventures on a number of projects in this region, including two gold deposits (Agi Dagi and Kirazli) and a recently discovered copper-gold porphyry system (Halilaga). The region is geopolitically stable and supported by excellent project infrastructure, including road accessibility and access to power and water.
