ATW to Pour Gold with $17 Million in the Bank
By James West
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
ATW Venture (TSX.V:ATW) has become one of the most dynamic gold juniors in the world since moving into Australia and unleashing a frenzy of acquisition that is generating news flow worthy of a major.
With the first pour of gold planned in August this year, and $17 million in the bank, the company is on track to become a mid-tier, 100,000 ounce per year producer within 18 months.
As previously announced by ATW, the company recently closed a brokered financing that raised approximately $10,978,000 in gross proceeds. In addition, warrantholders exercised 2.45 million share purchase warrants of a possible 2.5 million warrants exercisable at 80 cents prior to expiry on March 28, 2008. As a result of these recent financings and cash on hand, ATW currently has working capital of over $17.5-million.
Burnakura gold mine, Western Australia
Since purchasing the Burnakura gold mine on Dec. 24, 2007, ATW has steadily increased its scope of activities on the project in anticipation of resuming production during the third quarter of 2008.
The first phase RC drill program aimed at increasing current resources is now completed. Crews successfully drilled 24 holes totalling 4,110 metres along the 1,500-metre strike length from the underground workings at NOA 2, north to the NOA 7-8 pit. To date, assay results of only four holes have been released although additional results are anticipated in the coming weeks.
In respect of refurbishing the Burnakura plant and mill, ATW's consultants identified several improvements and regular repair issues aimed at bringing the plant to operating status and improving its efficiency. Burnakura's primary crusher has been refurbished and is ready for production. The secondary crusher and tank agitators were shipped to Harmony Gold's Mt. Magnet mine facility for refurbishment. All other plant components are presently being refurbished on site. Management estimates that the company is on track to commission the mill in August, 2008.
The company's metallurgist has completed his review of the site laboratory and has planned to set up the lab with a full-time technician to process all drill samples from Burnakura and Gullewa.
Negotiations are under way with various drill contractors to determine availability and price in respect of 30,000 metres of combined RC and core drilling at Burnakura and Gullewa.
Gullewa project acquisition, Western Australia
Further to ATW's news in Stockwatch March 13, 2008, wherein the company announced it entered into a letter of intent (LOI) to purchase the Gullewa gold copper project in Western Australia for $13-million (Australian) and two million common shares, ATW continues to make progress toward completing this acquisition and has set April 12, 2008, for execution of the definitive purchase agreement.
ATW's Australian tenement manager and legal counsel have completed their due diligence and provided ATW with a positive title opinion on the various tenements comprising the Gullewa project.
As part of the LOI on the purchase of Gullewa, ATW has agreed to advance $300,000 to complete a geophysical gravity survey over the entire tenement package, thus maintaining the tenements in good standing. Mineral deposits at Gullewa are identifiable by geophysics, as was the case with Gullewa's Deflector deposit, and several other prospects (identified in ATW's news in Stockwatch March 13, 2008).
Steve Godden, CEng, FIMM, has been retained to complete a National Instrument 43-101-compliant technical report on the Gullewa project. It is anticipated that completion of the technical report will take approximately six weeks and will allow ATW to state certain geologic information and resource calculations for Gullewa that the vendor has disclosed, on its website, and in disclosure documents prepared for the ASX.
Personnel Changes
A key requirement in ATW's plan to bring Burnakura and Gullewa back into production is the hiring of operations personnel. The recent closing of Harmony Gold's Mt. Magnet gold mine in Western Australia, has given ATW an opportunity to retain key mining personnel already situated in the region.
ATW has retained Graeme Thompson, MSc geology, as its resource geologist to work with company engineers in mine planning and resource development. Mr. Thompson spent the previous 22 years working for Consolidated Minerals, BHP, Western Mining as a specialist in 3-D modelling, geologic interpretation and resource geology. In addition to using his modelling skills at Burnakura, ATW's exploration of Gullewa will benefit from Mr. Thompson's experience in geophysical interpretation.
ATW is also pleased to report that it has retained one of Harmony Gold's safety and human resources officers. Julie Budrey, with 12 years experience with Harmony Gold and Western Mining, is skilled in safety, first aid, mine rescue, and firefighting practices and procedures. In addition, the company will rely on Ms. Budrey for managing human resources and setting up company procedures and training programs.
Amarillo project, Argentina
ATW is presently completing a 1,400-metre diamond drill program to test deep copper/gold porphyry mineralization within an area where previous drilling encountered strong quartz/pyrite stockworks and anomalous copper. At present, Major Drilling has completed one 400-metre drill hole and is currently drilling hole two. Company geologists expect that a further 800 metres of drilling in two drill holes can likely be completed before the onset of winter. ATW's geology consultant has just arrived at Amarillo and will be providing an update on the exploration program shortly.
Carp property, British Columbia
Due to ATW's increasing activity in Australia, its interest in the Carp property in Northern British Columbia has become insignificant. As a result, ATW has assigned its interest in the Carp Lake property to Bryant Resources Inc. in exchange for retaining a 2-per-cent net smelter royalty should the property be put into commercial production.
Toronto Stock Exchange Listing Application
The company is in the process of applying for a listing on the TSX in an effort to increase its exposure in financial markets. The company's acceptance for listing on the TSX is subject to numerous conditions and therefore ATW can not confirm if or when the company will trade on the exchange.
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