Categories: General Market Commentary / Precious Metals
Topics: General Market Commentary / General Precious Metals

It’s a Deal! Golden Arrow and Silver Standard form 25/75 JV - fast track to Silver Production

After eighteen months plus a day of eager anticipation, Silver Standard Resources (TSX:SSO) (NASDAQ: SSRI) gave Golden Arrow Resources (TSX:GRG, OTCQB: GARWF, Frankfurt:GAC) the good news on March 31 that it has approved a joint venture that is nothing less than transformative for the aspiring junior.

With approval in place, Golden Arrow will jump to producer with a 25 per cent stake in Silver Standard’s Pirquitas mine in Argentina, get a hefty payday of $15 million representing its share of profits from the mine since Oct. 2015, and a clear and efficient path to production for the Chinchillas project it’s been developing for years.

The Deal

The terms of the innovative deal has the two companies creating a new joint venture, owned 75 per cent by Silver Standard and the rest by Golden Arrow, that will hold both the Pirquitas and Chinchillas projects that sit about 42 kilometres apart by road.

The deal works well for both companies, since the open-pit Pirquitas mine is out of ore and running on stockpiles, while the Chinchillas project will need the mill, processing plant, and other equipment that will soon be hungry for more material as those stockpiles dwindle later this year.

Silver Standard gains control of a nearby promising deposit without a major cash buy, while Golden Arrow gets a fast track to production and gives shareholders the potential upside of future mining profits or a silver price rally.

“This is a landmark achievement for our company,” stated Golden Arrow CEO and Chairman Joseph Grosso. “As Golden Arrow transitions an exploration discovery into a mining operation, our shareholders stand to benefit from this profile and strengthened financial position.”

Silver Standard chief executive Paul Benson said the deal will extend the life of the Pirquitas operation well into the next decade, and opens the potential of future underground mining at Pirquitas as well.

"Forming the joint venture is an excellent result due to the outstanding cooperation by our partner Golden Arrow, the Argentine government and many within Silver Standard,” said Benson.

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