Equitorial Receives TSXV Acceptance to Acquisition of Initial 45% Interest in First Nevada Mining Corp. and Commences Work Program on El Havila Property, Colombia __________________________________________________________
Equitorial Exploration Corp. Suite 1818, 701 West Georgia St.
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EQUITORIAL RECEIVES TSXV ACCEPTANCE TO ACQUISITION OF INITIAL 45% INTEREST IN FIRST NEVADA MINING CORP. AND COMMENCES WORK PROGRAM ON EL HAVILA PROPERTY, COLOMBIA __________________________________________________________
March 4, 2014 TSX Venture Exchange Trading Symbol: EXX
Equitorial Exploration Corp. (the “Company” or “Equitorial”), a TSX-V listed company, is pleased to announce that it has received acceptance from the TSX Venture Exchange ("Exchange") to the share purchase and option agreement (the “Agreement”) with First Nevada Mining Corp. (“First Nevada”) whereby Equitorial can purchase up to 49% of First Nevada. Under the terms of the Agreement, Equitorial will purchase an initial 45% equity interest in First Nevada by subscribing for 6,843,453 common shares of First Nevada (the "FNMC Shares")for $250,000 cash, acquiring 5,000,000 previously issued shares of First Nevada from First Nevada's existing shareholders in exchange for the issuance of 5,000,000 shares of Equitorial (the "EXX Shares") and transferring the title to Equitorial's IGR 3000, 30 tonne per hour, modular, heavy mineral recovery plant to First Nevada. The EXX Shares are subject to voluntary escrow restrictions whereby they will be released from escrow every six months from closing. Equitorial intends to complete the acquisition of an initial 45% equity interest in First Nevada shortly, after which Equitorial will commit to provide a further $500,000 (the "Budget Funds") to First Nevada to be used for exploration, development and equipment purchases. The Agreement provides that in the event Equitorial does not provide First Nevada the Budget Funds within 6 months of closing, then 2,737,381 of the FNMC Shares will be returned to treasury and cancelled such that Equitorial's interest in First Nevada will be reduced to 40%. Equitorial can increase its ownership to 49% by providing an additional $750,000 and has the Right of First Refusal in the event that First Nevada receives any Acquisition Proposal from an arm’s length third party.
On closing, the Company will pay a finder’s fee to Canaccord Genuity Corp. in the amount of 500,000 shares, subject to applicable hold periods and TSX Venture Exchange ("Exchange") acceptance.
All securities issued by Equitorial under the Agreement will be subject to resale restrictions expiring 4 months and 1 day after their issuance.
About First Nevada
First Nevada is a private Canadian corporation with two mineral properties in Nevada and owns proprietary, patent pending, environmentally friendly, heavy metal extraction technology. First Nevada has invested over $2.6 million on its mineral properties and proprietary technologies to date. Duane Nelson is the founder, President and CEO of First Nevada. He was the CEO and co-founder of Silvermex Resources Inc., a past TSX listed company. Silvermex was a successful silver and gold producer focused on projects in Mexico and was acquired by First Majestic Silver Corp. in 2012 for $175 Million.
First Nevada has two mineral properties in Nevada. The Barrel Springs gold project in Pershing County, contains some 6,000 acres of lode and placer claims covering a large Tertiary alluvial fan. Barrel Springs lies south of, and adjacent to Allied Nevada’s (NYSE – ANV) operating Hycroft mine. The property is strategically located 3 miles to the southeast of the Hycroft pit and is approximately 3 hours northeast of Reno, Nevada. The property has been the focus of small scale alluvial gold production dating back to the late 1870s but has not been explored using modern evaluation techniques. First Nevada holds valid water use permits and has initiated the necessary studies and permitting processes required for a bulk sampling program and pilot plant operation.
First Nevada’s second mineral property is the fully-permitted Big Canyon Gold Mine located 129 kms southeast of Reno, in Lyon County, near Yerington, Nevada. First Nevada has an option to purchase this nearterm production project which is fully permitted to operate a 950 TPD gravimetric plant. Infrastructure in place includes water supply and tailings facilities. The land position consists of approximately 106 acres of lode and placer claims and 21 acres of patented land. The project is strategically located within the claim group of Quaterra Resource Inc.’s (NYSE – QMM) MacArthur Project. Big Canyon is a past producer with small scale production dating back to the 1930s. Big Canyon has had basic exploration work completed including geologic mapping, seismic profiling and test pit sampling. First Nevada intends to commence a bulk sampling and pilot plant program on this property’s gold bearing Tertiary sands and gravels in Q1 of this year.
First Nevada’s proprietary and patent pending heavy mineral extraction technology is based on a mobile classification and gravimetric processing unit with an integrated water filtration, clarification and recycling system. This allows for the concentration and extraction of heavy minerals from soil, gravel or crushed material with minimal environmental impact, discharge and water consumption. First Nevada also holds a patent pending process for the utilization of portable extraction technologies at mine locations around the world to provide operators with a portable, eco-friendly, low-cost, mineral extraction alternative, which in some locations, would reduce permitting timelines due to the system’s minimal environmental footprint, impact and discharge. There are numerous small mining operations with high-grade material that do not have the capabilities or financial means to process their own ore. First Nevada is strategically positioned to provide a viable solution to this underserved market.
First Nevada’s processing system has been designed for the concentration and extraction of heavy minerals in both the mining industry and the environmental remediation industry. The system can be used for the extraction of heavy mineral based soil contaminants, including; lead, zinc, cadmium, mercury, chromium, copper, tin, zinc and depleted uranium. Depleted uranium (DU) contaminated soils present one of the major environmental challenges to the US Government due to the number of contaminated sites and the volume of material. The US Federal Government Accountability Office estimated its environmental liability to clean up the DU waste at $249 billion in fiscal 2004, representing the government’s third largest liability – Government . IBIS World market research estimates the remediation and environmental cleanup market in Canada at $1 billion annually and the United States at $25 billion annually, growing at a projected 8.8% per year.
Exploration on El Havila Property, Colombia
Equitorial is pleased to announce that it has commenced an exploration program on the El Havila copper-gold property (the "Property") in Colombia, South America. The Property is located thirty kilometers East North East of Frontino in the state of Antioquia, and lies within the prolific Choco gold belt, a highly prospective area with potential for porphyry-related gold and copper and epithermal precious metal deposits currently being explored by numerous companies including AngloGold Ashanti (La Colosa), Gran Colombia (Marmato) and Continental Gold (Buritica). Equitorial has commenced community consultation meetings with the local stakeholders in the area, has completed a security assessment, in advance of exploration crew deployment for a work program consisting of geologic mapping, soil sampling, trenching, and ground geophysics (IP, and Magnetics).
On behalf of the Board of Directors
EQUITORIAL EXPLORATION CORP.
“Dean Pekeski”
Dean Pekeski, President and Director
For further information, please contact either Dean Pekeski or Patrick Power at 604-689-1799.
Qualified Person Statement
Technical information related to Equitorial’s El Havila Property contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Dean Pekeski P.Geo, a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
Technical information related to First Nevada’s Barrel Springs and Big Canyon Properties contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Ed Morrow P.Geo, a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.