Claim Post Resources Inc. amended its Manigotagan Agreement with Gossan Resources Ltd. to provide an extension in the due date of a $430,000 payment for six months to Dec. 18, 2015, subject to interest at 1 percent per month, and a payment of 1,000,000 common shares of Claim Post, as well as an increase in the advance royalty provisions. The issuance of the Claim Post shares is subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.
On June 18, 2013, Gossan agreed to sell its Manigotagan Silica Frac Sand Project, comprised of nine quarry leases located near Seymourville, Manitoba, Canada, to Claim Post under the terms of a sale agreement. Under the agreement, Gossan has previously received 3,000,000 common shares of Claim Post and a two cash payments totaling $700,000. The payment date for the final $430,000 cash payment has been extended to Dec. 18, 2015. Gossan is also entitled to an ongoing royalty interest.
All frac sand produced, sold and paid from the nine Manigotagan leases is subject to a $1.00-per-ton production royalty payable quarterly and all other products are subject to a $0.50-per-ton production royalty. Although the royalty is solely payable on production from the Manigotagan leases, the agreement also provides for a minimum production royalty from both the Manigotagan and the adjacent Seymourville Property held by Claim Post, based on their relative remaining mining reserves of frac sand. Claim Post can acquire one-half of Gossan’s production royalty interest for $1.5 million at any time after making all of the required property payments.
On Nov. 24, 2014, Claim Post announced the results of a NI 43-101 Preliminary Economic Study (PEA) on the Seymourville Frac Sand Project conducted by P & E Mining Consultants Inc. The PEA examined a proposed quarrying operation with a trans-loading truck to rail facility in Winnipeg. The operation would initially have an annual capacity of 500,000 tons that would be expanded to 1 million tons per year during the second year of operations. The quarrying operation outlined utilizes bulldozers and excavators without any blasting. The sand will be delivered to the wash plant by a slurry pump system during a six-month summer quarrying season. The on-site dry plant will operate 300 days per year.
The PEA utilized a base case price for Tier 1 frac sand of CAD$110-per-ton FOB Winnipeg. The proposed mine life based on the initial NI 43 101 resource on 20 percent of the project area is 18 years. The PEA estimated initial Capex for the project at CAD$93 million including working capital. The base case provided a 4.4 year payback and an after-tax IRR of 21 percent. The PEA is filed on SEDAR and should be referred to for details.
Charles Gryba, president of Claim Post Resources, stated: “Our target date for going into production is June 2018 which at that time oil prices should be back over the $80 per barrel. Claim Post is currently focusing on three milestones: (1) social responsibility completing the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU’s) with local communities, (2) completing the mine permitting process, and (3) continue to de-risk the project plus minimize the cash burn rate. We continue to believe strongly in the project; it is a high-quality Tier 1 deposit, our PEA shows we are in the low quartile of mining costs and we have a $40 freight advantage to Bakken and Western Canadian basins. Our next drill program should indicate a minimum 40 year life to the project.”