Astra Exploration (TSXV: ASTR; US-OTC: ATEPF), which owns 80% of the Pampa Paciencia mission in northern Chile, has signed an settlement to amass the remaining 20% of the mission from joint-venture accomplice Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (NYSE: SQM).
The three,840-hectare gold-silver mission is lower than 15 km from two producing mines — the Sierra Gorda open-pit copper mine owned by South32 (LSE: S32; ASX: S32) and KGHM, and BHP’s (NYSE: BHP; LSE: BHP; ASX: BHP) Spence open-pit copper mine.
“Buying the remaining 20% curiosity permits Astra to manage 100% of crucial potential floor and expands our strategic foothold within the rising epithermal district of northern Chile,” Brian Miller, Astra’s CEO, acknowledged in a press launch.
Below the settlement, Astra will challenge SQM 1.45 million frequent shares in its firm at a value of 12¢ per share, its closing share value on Nov. 2.
Astra famous that it has accomplished drilling, mapping and sampling, geophysical surveys and localized trenching and has outlined a vein boulder area over about 75% of the mission space. “The veins don’t outcrop as nearly all of the mission space is roofed by a skinny layer of gravels and caliche,” the Vancouver-based firm acknowledged, “however the vein float can be utilized to establish areas of excessive prospectivity.”
Gold and silver mineralization in quartz veins on the low sulphidation epithermal gold-silver deposit have returned grades of 93.3 grams gold per tonne and 301 grams silver per tonne in floor rock chip samples, and seven.71 grams gold over 3.75 metres inside a broader 16.3 metre interval grading 2.3 grams gold and 18.73 grams silver, in drill gap PP15-007.
Astra notes that the mission is adjoining to the Cerro Dominador solar energy plant, which it describes as a “potential supply of inexperienced renewable vitality.”
During the last yr in Toronto, Astra has traded in a spread of 11¢ and 37.5¢ per share.
The corporate has about 37.1 million frequent shares excellent for a market cap of about $4.5 million.
