SpectrumGold signed four property agreements this spring and staked claims surrounding the company's Galore Creek gold-silver-copper deposit in northwestern British Columbia. A 56 percent owned subsidiary of Novagold Resources, SpectrumGold's tally for new land acquisitions surrounding Galore Creek is 52,450 acres of land.

Total acreage in the district now controlled by SpectrumGold is 74,000 acres, according to a company press release issued on April 8. In that release, SpectrumGold announced its agreement to purchase a 100 percent share in the Paydirt property, consisting of 2,700 acres, and the Copper Canyon property, covering 700 acres. SpectrumGold is acquiring those two properties from Silver Standard Resources Inc. and Teck Cominco Ltd., the press release said.

In a March 29 release, SpectrumGold announced two other land deals and a large claim staking effort designed to increase the Galore Creek land package. A deal with Pioneer Metals Corp. will give SpectrumGold a 60 percent interest in the Grace property, 6,200 acres of land that directly adjoins Galore Creek on its northern border. That agreement requires SpectrumGold to spend C$5 million on exploration over five years.

SpectrumGold must also subscribe for C$1 million in units of Pioneer Metals, at C25.5 cents per unit, a private placement subject to regulatory approval.

SpectrumGold also signed another agreement with Silver Standard to acquire a 100 percent interest in the Jack and Spaler Creek claims, for a total of 850 acres. SpectrumGold is issuing 50,000 shares to Silver Standard for the Jack claims and 46,177 shares to Silver Standard and $96,845 to Doublestar Resources Ltd. for the Spahler claims.

SpectrumGold also acquired additional ground, 42,000 acres, by claim staking in the area surrounding Galore Creek.

"Management believes that the consolidation of these properties in the Galore Creek district will provide significant potential synergies for development of the Galore Creek deposit," the company said in a press release. "SpectrumGold plans to advance these projects as part of its overall Galore Creek program."

A historic resource estimate of Galore Creek, completed in 1992 by Kennecott Exploration, estimated a measured and indicated resource containing 3.6 million ounces of gold, 47 million ounces of silver and 4 billion pounds of copper. The company reported additional mineralization in an inferred resource including 1.4 million ounces of gold, 14 million ounces of silver and 920 million pounds of copper. Those estimates were based on nearly 500 drill holes totaling more than 100,000 meters of core samples, according to a SpectrumGold press release.

Share exchange to be completed in mid-June

In late March, NovaGold and SpectrumGold announced plans to combine their businesses in a share exchange plan, in which NovaGold will acquire the remaining 44 percent of the common shares of SpectrumGold not currently held by the company. According to the April 8 release, that transaction is anticipated to be finalized in mid-June.

NovaGold is currently advancing its 1 million ounce gold deposit called Rock Creek, just outside Nome, Alaska, and plans to start work later this summer on its recently acquired Ambler property, a large gold-silver, copper and base metals target in the remote northwestern part of Alaska. An agreement with Kennecott will give NovaGold a 51 percent interest in the Ambler property, contingent on NovaGold's spending $20 million on the property by 2016. As operator, NovaGold must spend $5 million in the first five years of the agreement.

Previous exploration on Arctic, the most advanced target on the Ambler property, identified an inferred resource containing 817,000 ounces of gold, 62.1 million ounces of silver, 3.2 billion pounds of copper, 4.2 billion pounds of zinc and 640 million pounds of lead.

NovaGold also holds an interest in the Donlin Creek project, which Placer Dome is currently working to develop. Located in the upper Kuskokwim River of southwest Alaska, Donlin Creek is estimated to contain almost 28 million ounces of gold.