Barrick Gold Withdraws From Earn-In Agreement for Golden Minerals' Argentina Project

By Robb M. Stewart

Barrick Gold has opted out of an opportunity to buy a majority stake in a silver project in Argentina, leaving control of the development in the hands of explorer Golden Minerals.

Colorado-based Golden Minerals said Wednesday it was notified by the big Canadian miner that it was withdrawing from an earn-in agreement on the El Quevar project signed by the companies in early 2020. Termination of the deal will be effective April 20.

For Golden Minerals, the return of El Quevar comes as it pivots from production to exploration and development. Barrick has spent more than $6 million to-date at El Quevar and completed a drill program that identified a potential gold prospect in the central Eastern part of Quevar's land package, Golden Minerals said.

The agreement between the companies offered Barrick the opportunity to earn a 70% stake in the project by spending $10 million over eight years, as well as deliver a pre-feasibility study describing a potentially profitable operation with mineral resources of not less than 2 million gold-equivalent ounces in that time period.

Golden Minerals said it plans to further advance the El Quevar project and update its resource estimate.

Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 27, 2024 07:28 ET (11:28 GMT)

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