Kirkland Lake Gold has increased its stake in Canada-based Osisko Mining by acquiring almost 15 million common shares for around $CAD25 million ($27 million) in cash.
The major gold miner has paid $CAD1.70 for every share of Osisko via a private placement.
This pushes Kirkland’s interest in Osisko to nearly 14 per cent, up from a previous 8.6 per cent made up of 18 million shares.
Kirkland said that the additional shares were acquired for investment purposes in the long term.
Company president and chief executive Tony Makuch said, “Our strategic investment in Osisko increases our ownership interest in the Urban Barry area of northwestern Quebec, which we believe has become a new, highly prospective mining camp in the Canadian gold mining industry.”
The Urban Barry Greenfields project covers more than 70,000 hectares in a prospective exhalative terrain in the central and eastern part of the Urban Barry Greenstone belt.
He said, “The investment is complementary to our existing interests in Metanor Resources Inc. and Bonterra Resources Inc., both of which have high-potential exploration holdings in the same area.”
Makuch added that Kirkland’s investment in Osisko will give it exposure to early-stage exploration properties in proximity to Osisko’s Holt and Taylor mines, strengthening its existing asset base in Ontario.
In July, the company reported a record first-half production from its flagship Fosterville mine — the largest gold operation in Victoria — on top of a record quarterly production at Kirkland’s Macassa mine in Ontario, Canada.
Kirkland targets an excess of 635,000 ounces (oz) of production from its Australian and Canadian gold mines.