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Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. and BHP Billiton Ltd. Sign Option Agreement; Summer Exploration Program Planned to Begin July 2016
(via Thenewswire.ca) Vancouver, Canada / TheNewswire / May 31, 2016 - Aston Bay Holdin...
About this update from Aston Bay Holdings Ltd.
[{"type":"text","content":"Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. and BHP Billiton Ltd. Sign Option Agreement; Summer Exploration Program Planned to Begin July 2016(via Thenewswire.ca)\n \n \nVancouver, Canada / TheNewswire / May 31, 2016 - Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. (TSX-V: BAY) (\"Aston Bay\" or the \"Company\") is very pleased to announce that it has signed a definitive Option Agreement (the \"Option Agreement\"), including a pre-negotiated Joint Venture agreement (\"JV Agreement\"), with a Canadian Subsidiary of BHP Billiton Ltd. (\"BHP Billiton\"), to cooperatively advance the Storm Copper Project (\"Storm\") in Nunavut.\n\n \n \nUnder the terms of the Option Agreement, BHP Billiton can earn a 75% interest in Storm by spending a minimum of CDN$40 million on qualifying exploration expenditures over a period of up to nine years. \n\n \n \n\"We are very pleased to be working in partnership with BHP Billiton. We look forward to a productive Summer 2016 drill program on the Storm Copper Project,\" commented Benjamin Cox, President and Chief Executive Officer of Aston Bay. \n\n \n \nHighlights of the Option Agreement include:\n\n \n \n-BHP Billiton to spend a minimum of CDN$40 million on exploration at Storm within nine years, with minimum expenditures of CDN$2.5 million in the first two years, to exercise the option and earn a 75% interest in Storm. Aston Bay has no required contributions during the option period.\n\n\n \n-Exercise of the option would result in formation of a joint venture governed by terms of the JV Agreement, whereby both companies would contribute funding on a pro rata basis (75% BHP Billiton, 25% Aston Bay).\n\n\n \n-Aston Bay has no required exploration expenses for four years from the closing of the Option Agreement; in the event of an early exercise of the option, Aston Bay's pro rata contribution to any additional expenditures will not be required until the end of this four-year period.\n\n\n \n-Commander Resources Ltd. (\"Commander\", TSX-V: CMD) will retain its 0.875% Gross Overriding Royalty (\"GOR\") on the area of mutual interest with Aston Bay; BHP Billiton has the option to buy this down to a 0.4% GOR with a one-time payment of CDN$4 million.\n\n\n \n-Aston Bay will hold a Gross Overriding Royalty of 0.3% on the territory outside the area of mutual interest with Commander.\n\n\n \n-BHP Billiton will make a cash payment of CDN$325,000 to Asto...