Monday, December 26, 2016

Abitibi Royalties News Release Update on Investment Portfolio

Source:  Abitibi Royalties Inc. 

Abitibi Royalties Inc. (TSX VENTURE:RZZ) ("Abitibi Royalties" or the "Company") announces that Yamana Gold Inc. ("Yamana") has recently disclosed that its wholly owned subsidiary, Brio Gold Inc. ("Brio Gold"), has filed a preliminary prospectus with the securities regulatory authorities in each of the provinces and territories of Canada in connection with qualifying a secondary offering (the "Offering") of Brio Gold common shares held by Yamana, which will be transferred to purchasers through and subject to the exercise of purchase rights (the "Purchase Rights"). Yamana intends to distribute the Purchase Rights to its shareholders as a dividend in-kind. The Purchase Rights shall provide shareholders with an opportunity to purchase from Yamana a portion of its Brio Shares or the option of selling their Purchase Rights. Abitibi Royalties owns 3,549,695 shares in Yamana and is expected to receive Purchase Rights in connection with the Offering. Abitibi Royalties will inform its shareholders of the Company's decision to participate in the Offering or sell its Purchase Rights once more information becomes available. 

About Abitibi Royalties 
Abitibi Royalties holds a 3% NSR on the Odyssey North discovery, Jeffrey Zone and the eastern portion of the Barnat Extension, located inside the Malartic CHL property and a 2% NSR on portions of the Gouldie and Charlie zones all at the Canadian Malartic mine near Val-d'Or, Québec. In addition, the Company is building a portfolio of royalties on early stage properties near producing mines. The Company owns common shares in Yamana Gold and Agnico Eagle Mines (market value), plus cash (as of June 30, 2016) of approximately CDN$47.2 million. The Company is debt free.

Golden Valley Mines Ltd. and Rob McEwen hold approximately 49.4% and 12.3% interest in Abitibi Royalties, respectively.


Abitibi Royalties Increases Royalty Holdings in Red Lake District

Source:  Abitibi Royalties Inc. 

Royalties acquired near Goldcorp's Red Lake mine & Pure Gold's Madsen mine

Abitibi Royalties Inc. (TSX VENTURE:RZZ) ("Abitibi Royalties" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Company has partnered with AuRico Metals Inc. ("AuRico") for the purpose of entering into an agreement with Frontline Gold Corporation ("Frontline") that allows each company to acquire a 1% net smelter royalty ("NSR") on several early stage exploration projects in the Red Lake district. The exploration projects are located south of Goldcorp's Red Lake mine, with the largest claim package adjoining Pure Gold's Madsen mine to the east and south (Fig. 1 - Claim Map). 
 
These acquisitions will build on the Company's Red Lake royalty portfolio, which also includes a 2% NSR on the White Horse Island Project (also owned by Frontline), situated between the Goldcorp / Premier Gold Rahill-Bonanza Gold Property and Premier Gold's Hasaga Gold Property (Fig. 1). A total of fourteen royalties have now been purchased near existing mines since the Company's "Royalty Search" was launched in June 2015 (http://www.abitibiroyalties.com). Please click here for a full list.

1% NSR - RED LAKE EXPLORATION PROJECTS
In exchange for the 1% NSR on the Red Lake exploration projects, Abitibi Royalties has agreed to pay Frontline Cdn$13,000, with AuRico agreeing to pay an equal amount. Abitibi Royalties will pay the cash consideration from its treasury.

Since launching the Royalty Search in June 2015, fourteen royalties near existing mining operations have been acquired, which include royalties surrounding or near Agnico Eagle and Yamana's Canadian Malartic mine in Québec, Agnico Eagle's Lapa mine in Québec, Alamos Gold's Young-Davidson mine in Ontario, Eldorado's Efemcukuru mine in Turkey, Goldcorp's Red Lake mine in Ontario, Hudbay's 777 mine in Manitoba, Metanor Resources Bachelor mine in Québec and New Gold's Rainy River mine in Ontario.

The Royalty Search (www.abitibiroyalties.com) is an easy to use website that allows mining companies and prospectors a quick way of accessing capital.
Abitibi Royalties is offering to pay the annual claim fees/taxes related to:
1) Existing mineral properties or
2) Staking of new mineral properties
In return for paying these fees, Abitibi Royalties would be granted an NSR on the property. To date over 100 properties have been submitted through the website and 14 agreements have been finalized.

MENDERES GOLD PROJECT - TURKEY (3% NSR)
The Company has been informed by Frontline that drilling initially scheduled for September / October has been deferred to the first half of 2017 in order to complete additional work that should allow Frontline to better target possible extensions of Eldorado Gold Corporation's Efemcukuru gold mine in Turkey.

YAMANA RIGHTS OFFERING
The Company has decided to sell its purchase rights ("Purchase Rights") payable by Yamana Gold and not participate in the Brio Gold offering. Abitibi Royalties intends to use the proceeds from the sale to repurchase shares of the Company under its Normal Course Issuer Bid ("NCIB"). Based on the last trading price of the Purchase Rights (Cdn$0.295), the Company would receive approximately Cdn$65,450.

About Abitibi Royalties
Abitibi Royalties holds a 3% NSR on the Odyssey North discovery, Jeffrey Zone and the eastern portion of the Barnat Extension, located inside the Malartic CHL property and a 2% NSR on portions of the Gouldie and Charlie zones, all at the Canadian Malartic mine near Val-d'Or, Québec. In addition, the Company is building a portfolio of royalties on early stage properties near producing mines. The Company owns common shares in Yamana Gold and Agnico Eagle Mines (market value), plus cash (as of September 30, 2016) of Cdn$41.8 million. The Company is debt free.

Golden Valley Mines Ltd. and Rob McEwen hold approximately 49.4% and 12.3% interest in Abitibi Royalties, respectively.
 

Abitibi Royalties Update on Royalties at Canadian Malartic Mine

Source:  Abitibi Royalties Inc

Abitibi Royalties Inc. (TSX VENTURE:RZZ) ("Abitibi Royalties" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an update on the Company's net smelter royalties ("NSR") at the Canadian Malartic Mine, near Val-d'Or, Québec. 

Malartic CHL - Odyssey North Zone (3% NSR)
Abitibi Royalties holds a 3% NSR on the Odyssey North Zone located within the Malartic CHL Property. Odyssey North is proximate to the Odyssey South Zone and together, these zones comprise the "Odyssey Zones", "Odyssey deposit", "Odyssey" or "deposits" that is east of the main Canadian Malartic Mine open pit. The Canadian Malartic Mine and Malartic CHL Property are jointly operated by Agnico Eagle Mines Limited ("Agnico Eagle") and Yamana Gold Inc. ("Yamana") through the Canadian Malartic General Partnership.

A) Odyssey - Exploration Update
The Company observes that during the third quarter of 2016, a total of 56 drill holes (40,019 metres) were completed at Odyssey, bringing the year-to-date total to 113 holes (89,774 metres). The Company understands that drilling at Odyssey is expected to continue through year-end with an increased budget, previously established at Cdn$13.5 million (95,000 metres of drilling). As stated by Agnico Eagle at the Denver Forum (September 20, 2016), nine drill rigs are active at the project.
Yamana stated in its Q3-2016 News Release, "Drilling during the third quarter focused on defining the margins of both deposits and adding infill holes to upgrade the potential resources to an inferred status. Drilling in the fourth quarter will continue this work and provide additional intercepts to better define potential high grade cross cutting structures. The Company is excited about the results received to date and looks forward to receiving a maiden Inferred Mineral Resource estimate in the first quarter of 2017."

Agnico Eagle stated in its Q3-2016 Conference Call, "[Odyssey] certainly was one of the reasons that both Yamana and Agnico Eagle were attracted to the opportunity of Osisko. There are two zones, Odyssey North and Odyssey South. We have traced Odyssey North Zone from 600 to 1,300 metres below surface, it's a large zone with a strike length over one kilometre".

B) Odyssey - Resource Estimate 
Abitibi Royalties has been advised that an inferred mineral resource is expected to be estimated for Odyssey North with the operators fourth quarter and year-end financial results due in February 2017. Abitibi Royalties anticipates receiving a separate annual reserve and resource estimate for the areas at the Canadian Malartic Mine where it holds a royalty sometime after the operator's fourth quarter and year-end financial results are released. Yamana stated during its Q3-2016 Conference Call that "Infill drilling of the Odyssey deposits has returned positive results" and, referring to future steps after the initial inferred resource, "Drilling will continue into Q1 or Q2 of 2017 to develop indicated resources that could form the basis of a pre-feasibility study".

C) Odyssey - Possible Production
Yamana states in its Q3-2016 News Release "This deposit (Odyssey) supports optionality for enhanced production and life of mine" and during the Denver Gold Forum Yamana indicated that Odyssey could operate between 8,000-10,000 tonnes per day (tpd). The operators have provided a range for Odyssey North's gold grade at between 1.5 to 3.0 grams per tonne (gpt), with an average grade being shown as 2 gpt (Agnico Eagle Exploration News Release July 27, 2016 and Yamana's Q2-2016 Results Conference Call Presentation July 29, 2016).

Drill Hole Data and Locations
The Company has not received all, or, in some cases any of the drill hole information since Agnico Eagle and Yamana assumed operational control of the Malartic CHL Property in March 2015. Odyssey North strikes east-southeast and dips deeply to the south, with the mineralization on the eastern portion of the discovery appearing to straddle the Malartic CHL Property boundary at depth (please refer to the Company's plan map in its corporate presentation located at www.abitibiroyalties.com). The Company has not independently verified the location of the published assay results, nor subsequent drilling at Odyssey North and the Company can make no assurances that all of the assay results released to date, nor all of the additional drilling targeting Odyssey North, are within the limits of the Malartic CHL Property where Abitibi Royalties holds a 3% NSR. Any resource estimate for Odyssey North released by the operators with their fourth quarter and year-end financial results may differ from the actual Abitibi Royalties NSR interest due to the location of the Malartic CHL Property boundary.

The Company also wishes to clarify the section numbers for two drill holes in its September 12, 2016 news release. Hole ODY16-5056 section number is 718000E (previously stated as 718800E) and hole ODY-16-5058 section number is 717800E (previously stated as 718800E).

Update on Barnat Extension and Jeffrey Deposits (3% NSR)
The Company holds a 3% NSR on the eastern portion of the Barnat Extension (Barnat East) and the Jeffrey gold deposit, both of which were included in the submitted Environmental Impact Assessment ("EIA") Project Notification Form. The formal EIA was submitted in February 2015 and is pending final approval.

Agnico Eagle states in its Q3-2016 News Release, "Following the Québec Bureau des Audiences Publiques sur l'Environnement ("BAPE") public hearings in June and July 2016, permitting of the Canadian Malartic extension project and Highway 117 deviation reached an important milestone with the issue of the BAPE report on October 5, 2016. The report concluded that the project is acceptable and provides several recommendations intended to enhance social acceptability. The next step is for the Ministère du Développement durable, de l'Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques to review the report and present their decision to Cabinet for approval. No date for the approval has been set, but the Partnership anticipates that this may occur in the first half of 2017."
Based on current estimates, cash flow from the Jeffrey Zone in 2017 has been estimated by the Company at approximately Cdn$430,000 and for the Jeffrey and/Barnat Extension Zones in 2018 at approximately Cdn$1.85 million based on information provided by Agnico Eagle and Yamana (Abitibi Royalties News Release March 29, 2016) and a gold price of US$1,270 per ounce (1.34 CDN:USD Exchange Rate). No production details have been provided by the mine operators beyond 2018.

QUALIFIED PERSON
Glenn J. Mullan, Chairman, is the Qualified Person (as that term is defined in National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects) who has reviewed this news release which is based on and derived from information contained in Agnico Eagle's Q3-2016 News Release (October 26, 2016), Agnico Eagle's Q3-2016 Results Conference Call (October 27, 2016), Agnico Eagle's Exploration News Release (July 27, 2016), Agnico Eagle's Denver Gold Forum Corporate Presentation Webcast (September 29, 2016), Yamana's Q3-2016 News Release (October 27, 2016), Yamana's Q3-2016 Results Conference Call (October 28, 2016), Yamana's Denver Gold Forum Corporate Presentation Webcast (September 20, 2016) and Q2-2016 Results Conference Call Presentation (July 29, 2016).

About Abitibi Royalties
Abitibi Royalties holds a 3% NSR on the Odyssey North discovery, Jeffrey Zone and the eastern portion of the Barnat Extension, located inside the Malartic CHL property and a 2% NSR on portions of the Gouldie and Charlie zones all at the Canadian Malartic mine near Val-d'Or, Québec. In addition, the Company is building a portfolio of royalties on early stage properties near producing mines. The Company owns common shares in Yamana Gold and Agnico Eagle Mines (market value), plus cash (as of June 30, 2016) of approximately Cdn$47.1 million. The Company is debt free.

Golden Valley Mines Ltd. and Rob McEwen hold approximately 49.4% and 12.3% interest in Abitibi Royalties, respectively.


Abitibi Royalties Received Final Exchange Acceptance for Normal Course Issuer Bid

Source:  Abitibi Royalties Inc. 

Abitibi Royalties Inc. (TSX VENTURE:RZZ) ("Abitibi Royalties" or the "Company") announces that it has received final acceptance from the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSX-V") to conduct the normal course issuer bid (the "2016 NCIB"), the details of which were previously announced on October 3, 2016. Under the 2016 NCIB, Abitibi Royalties may purchase for cancellation, from time to time at its discretion based on market conditions, share price, best use of available cash, among other factors, up to 566,182 of its issued and outstanding common shares (representing 5% of Abitibi Royalties' issued and outstanding common shares as of September 27, 2016). Purchases will be made on the open market through the facilities of the TSX-V, with TD Securities conducting the 2016 NCIB on behalf of Abitibi Royalties. 

Abitibi Royalties believes that the market price of its common shares does not always give full effect to the underlying value and that, accordingly, the purchase for cancellation of shares by Abitibi Royalties during these times will benefit the remaining shareholders by increasing their proportionate ownership in the Company.

The 2016 NCIB will commence on October 6, 2016, and will terminate on October 5, 2017, or such earlier time as the 2016 NCIB is completed or at the option of Abitibi Royalties. Any shares acquired by Abitibi Royalties pursuant to the 2016 NCIB will be cancelled.

About Abitibi Royalties Inc.
Abitibi Royalties holds a 3% NSR on the Odyssey North discovery, Jeffrey Zone and the eastern portion of the Barnat Extension inside the Malartic CHL property and a 2% NSR on portions of the Gouldie and Charlie zones all at the Canadian Malartic mine near Val-d'Or, Québec. In addition, the Company is building a portfolio of royalties on early stage properties near producing mines. The Company owns common shares in Yamana Gold and Agnico Eagle Mines (market value), plus cash (as of June 30, 2016) of CDN$47.0 million. The Company is debt free.

Golden Valley Mines Ltd. and Rob McEwen hold approximately 49.4% and 12.3% interest in Abitibi Royalties, respectively.


Abitibi Royalties to Extend Normal Course Issuer Bid

Source:  Abitibi Royalties Inc. 

Abitibi Royalties Inc. (TSX VENTURE:RZZ) ("Abitibi Royalties" or the "Company") announces that it intends to conduct a normal course issuer bid (the "2016 NCIB") to purchase through the facilities of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSX-V") up to 566,812 issued common shares of Abitibi Royalties (the "Common Shares") (representing 5% of Abitibi Royalties' issued and outstanding common shares as of September 27, 2016) over a period of twelve months commencing October 6, 2016. The NCIB is subject to final TSX-V acceptance, which has been conditionally approved. 

Under the NCIB, Common Shares may be repurchased in open market transactions on the TSX-V or by such other means as may be permitted by the TSX-V and under applicable Canadian securities laws. The price paid by Abitibi Royalties will be based on the market price at the time of purchase and not higher than the last independent trade of a board lot (board lot = 100 shares).

In accordance with TSX-V policy, purchases by Abitibi Royalties under the 2016 NCIB are limited, when aggregated with the total of all other purchases in the preceding 30 days, to a maximum of 2% of the Company's issued and outstanding shares at the time the purchases are made.

Common Shares that are purchased under the 2016 NCIB will be cancelled.
TD Securities Inc. will be conducting the 2016 NCIB on behalf of the Company.
The actual number of Common Shares which may be purchased and the timing of such purchases will be determined by Abitibi Royalties. Decisions regarding purchases will be based on market conditions, share price, best use of available cash, and other factors including other options to expand our portfolio of assets.

Abitibi Royalties has purchased to date an aggregate of 77,600 of its issued common shares through the facilities of the TSX-V under a normal course issuer bid (the "2015 NCIB") currently being conducted by the Issuer, which commenced October 6, 2015 and will end on October 5, 2016. Common shares purchased to date by the Issuer under the 2015 NCIB were purchased at an average price of CDN$3.19 per common share. The 77,600 common shares purchased to date under the 2015 NCIB have been returned to the Issuer's treasury and cancelled.

About Abitibi Royalties Inc.
Abitibi Royalties holds a 3% NSR on the Odyssey North discovery, Jeffrey Zone and the eastern portion of the Barnat Extension, located inside the Malartic CHL property and a 2% NSR on portions of the Gouldie and Charlie zones all at the Canadian Malartic mine near Val-d'Or, Québec. In addition, the Company is building a portfolio of royalties on early stage properties near producing mines. The Company owns common shares in Yamana Gold and Agnico Eagle Mines (market value), plus cash (as of June 30, 2016) of CDN$52.2 million. The Company is debt free.

Golden Valley Mines Ltd. and Rob McEwen hold approximately 49.4% and 12.3% interest in Abitibi Royalties, respectively.