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Keweenaw Land Announces Acquisition Of 29,071 Acres Of Mineral Properties In Michigan And Wisconsin
Keweenaw Land Announces Acquisition Of 29,071 Acres Of Mineral Properties In Michigan And Wisconsin.
About this update from Keweenaw Land Association, Ltd.
[{"type":"text","content":"\n IRONWOOD, Mich., Oct. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Keweenaw Land Association, Limited (OTC US: KEWL) announced today that it has completed the purchase of 29,071 acres of severed mineral properties from Sage Minerals Inc. for $5,000,000 in cash. The primary driver for the purchase was to increase Keweenaw’s ownership of the mineral reserves underlying Highland Copper’s Copperwood Project. The transaction includes 2,500 acres of mineral rights adjacent to our existing interests and increases Keweenaw’s mineral tenure to around 80% of Copperwood’s overall estimated reserves. The newly acquired acreage is already under a lease and option agreement with Highland Copper Company that has been assumed by Keweenaw and will convert to a royalty once the Copperwood Project goes into production. The mineral package Keweenaw acquired also contained 26,571 acres of mineral properties located in historic copper producing districts in Michigan and Northern Wisconsin, which includes prospective and underexplored properties in Gogebic, Ontonagon, and Baraga counties. 18,426 acres of the acquired mineral properties in Gogebic County are largely contiguous to mineral properties already owned by Keweenaw. The remaining acres are located in Arenac and Bay counties in Michigan’s lower peninsula and Ashland and Douglas counties in Wisconsin, which are areas where Keweenaw had not previously owned any minerals. As a real property investment, the transaction qualifies as a 1031 exchange. Over 60% of the purchase price was funded from cash held in escrow from recent land sales, including the Big Bay property sale in March of this year. Accordingly, Keweenaw expects to defer more than $800,000 in cash taxes during 2021. “We were presented with an opportunity to acquire unique assets - adjacent to our existing properties - at a value that meets our strict capital allocation hurdles. This purchase also allows us to enhance and expand our mineral portfolio at an attractive price.” said Jamie Mai, Keweenaw’s chairman. Contact: Paula J. Aijala, Secretary, Keweenaw Land Association, Limited, [email protected] About Keweenaw Land Association, Limited: Keweenaw is a forest products and land management company located in Ironwood, Michigan. Keweenaw has land holdings exceeding 179,000 surface acres and 428,00...