Benz Exercises Option to Acquire Remaining 25% Interests in the Eastmain Gold Project and Ruby Hill Properties
Benz Exercises Option to Acquire Remaining
25% Interests in the Eastmain Gold Project and
Ruby Hill Properties
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - October 27, 2025) - Benz Mining Corp. (TSXV: BZ)
(ASX: BNZ) (
Benz
or the
Company
) is pleased to announce that it has acquired the remaining 25%
interest held by Fury Gold Mines Limited (TSX: FURY) (NYSE American: FURY) (
Fury Gold
), indirectly
through its wholly owned subsidiaries Eastmain Mines Inc. (
EMI
) and Eastmain Resources Inc. (
ESI
, and
together with EMI,
Eastmain
), in the Eastmain Gold Project and the Ruby Hill East and Ruby Hill West
properties (the
Ruby Hill Properties
), located in the James Bay District, Québec.
Eastmain Gold Project
On October 27, 2025, the Company made the first milestone payment of C$1,000,000 (the
First
Milestone Payment
) to Fury Gold to acquire the remaining 25% interest (for a total 100% undivided
interest) held by Eastmain in the Eastmain Gold Project. The First Milestone Payment, of which
C$750,000 was paid in cash and the balance of C$250,000 by the issuance 171,142 common shares
at a deemed issue price of C$1.46078 (the
Payment Shares
) in the capital of the Company, was made
in accordance with the terms of the option agreement (the
Option Agreement
) dated August 7, 2019
between Benz and Eastmain, as amended by an agreement dated April 30, 2020 between Benz and
Eastmain. The Payment Shares are subject to a four month and one day resale restriction, expiring on
February 28, 2026, in accordance with Canadian securities laws. The issuance of the Payment Shares
remains subject to the final approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.
Under the terms of the Option Agreement, the Company granted EMI a 2% net smelter return (NSR)
royalty in respect of certain areas of the Eastmain Gold Project (the
New NSR Royalty
). The Company
may, at any time, purchase one half (1%) of the New NSR Royalty, thereby reducing it to a 1% NSR
royalty, for a payment of C$1,500,000.
In addition, the Eastmain Gold Project remains subject to pre-
existing royalties (the
Underlying NSR Royalties
), including: (i) a 2.3% NSR royalty granted pursuant
to the agreement dated February 19, 2007 among the EMI, ESI, MVS Resources Inc. and Campbell
Resources Inc. (the
Franco/Osisko Royalty
); and (ii) a 2% NSR royalty that was granted pursuant to
the agreement dated December 30, 1988 among Placer Dome Inc., MVS Resources Inc. and Northgate
Exploration Limited. The combination of Underlying NSR Royalties and the New NSR Royalty cannot
result in a royalty burden on the Eastmain Gold Project greater than a 2.5% NSR royalty burden, and to
the extent that the New NSR Royalty results in greater than a 2.5% NSR royalty burden, the New NSR
Royalty will be offset by the Underlying NSR Royalties. The New NSR Royalty will apply to certain areas
after the first 250,000 oz of production from such areas, which are encumbered by the Franco/Osisko
Royalty of up to 2.3% on the first 250,000 oz of production.
Ruby Hill Properties
On October 27, 2025, in accordance with the Option Agreement, Benz made the final cash payment of
C$100,000 to Eastmain to acquire Eastmain's remaining 25% (for a total 100% undivided interest)
interest in the Ruby Hill East Properties. Concurrently with the acquisition, the Company granted
Eastmain a 1% NSR royalty (the
Additional NSR Royalty
), of which one half (0.5%) may be purchased
for C$500,000 thereby reducing it to a 0.5% NSR royalty.
The combination of any enforceable pre-existing royalties on the Ruby Hill Properties and the Additional
NSR Royalty cannot result in a royalty burden on the Ruby Hill Properties greater than a 2.5% NSR
royalty burden, and to the extent that any enforceable pre-existing royalties on the Ruby Hill Properties
results in greater than a 2.5% NSR royalty burden on the Ruby Hill Properties, the Additional NSR
Royalty will be offset to zero. If the Additional NSR Royalty is offset by any pre-existing royalties, the
Company's NSR royalty buyback option will be adjusted on a pro rata basis.
The Option Agreement and the transactions completed thereunder are arm's length and there are no
finder's fees payable. For additional information on the Option Agreement, please see Benz's previous
news releases dated August 9, 2019, April 30, 2020 and October 26, 2023.
- END -
This announcement has been approved for release by the Board of Benz Mining Corp.
For more information please contact:
Mark Lynch-Staunton
Chief Executive Officer Benz Mining Corp.
E:
T: +61 8 6143 6702
For more information, please visit:
https://benzmining.com/
.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking information"
or "forward-looking statements" (collectively
Forward-Looking Information
) as such term is used in
applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-Looking Information includes, but is not limited to,
statements regarding the Option Agreement, the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange in respect of
the issuance of the Payment Shares, the New NSR Royalty and statements regarding the Additional
NSR Royalty. In certain cases, Forward-Looking Information can be identified by the use of words and
phrases or variations of such words and phrases or statements such as "anticipates", "complete",
"become", "expects", "next steps", "commitments" and "potential", in relation to certain actions, events
or results "could", "may", "will", "would", be achieved. In preparing the Forward-Looking Information in
this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including, but not limited to,
the Company's ability to obtain regulatory approvals in a timely manner and on terms and conditions
reasonable to the Company, the continuity of the price of gold and other metals, the continuity of
favourable economic and political conditions, and the continuity of the Company's current management
and operations.
Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could
cause plans, estimates and actual results to vary materially from those projected in such forward-looking
information. Factors that could cause the forward-looking information in this news release to change or
to be inaccurate include, but are not limited to, the risk that any of the assumptions referred to prove not
to be valid or reliable, that occurrences such as those referred to above are realized and result in delays,
or cessation in planned work, that the Company's financial condition and development plans change,
and delays in regulatory approval, as well as the other risks and uncertainties applicable to the Company
as set forth in the Company's continuous disclosure filings filed under the Company's profile at
www.sedarplus.ca
and
www.asx.com.au
. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on
Forward-Looking Information. The Forward-looking information in this news release is based on plans,
expectations, and estimates of management at the date the information is provided and the Company
undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements, other than as required by
applicable law.
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 ACCURACY OR ADEQUACY OF THIS RELEASE.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit
https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/272169