RockStar Resources makes first acquisition
COEUR d'ALENE - Former Coeur d'Alene Mines CEO Dennis E. Wheeler's startup mining company RockStar Resources Inc. has agreed to acquire a Canadian company's Oregon mining property for $35 million.
The mine in southeast Oregon, the Grassy Mountain Project, is an advanced stage exploration pre-feasibility project. The estimated 10-year mine has a reported 2.3 million ounces of gold as well as 5.8 million silver ounces, RockStar announced Tuesday.
Wheeler is chairman and CEO of RockStar, a new private Coeur d'Alene-based company formed to advance precious metals projects. He led Coeur as CEO for 25 years, resigning in July 2011.
Calico Resources Corp., based in Vancouver, B.C., has agreed to sell all shares of its wholly owned Nevada subsidiary, Calico Resources USA Corp., which owns and controls the mine property.
RockStar and Calico, which have entered into a memorandum of agreement, aim to close the sale early next year. The boards of directors for both companies unanimously approved the transaction.
"Calico has already made substantial investment into the development of the Grassy Mountain Project," Wheeler said. "With RockStar's expertise in permitting, mine design and optimization, and operational development, we expect to expeditiously advance this major gold project through feasibility and toward production."
Grassy Mountain is near major highways and 70 miles west of Boise. It also has a large unexplored land package, Wheeler said.
The 9,300-acre project is in Malheur County, Oregon.
RockStar expects the labor and support to advance the project to be drawn from local communities around Vale and Ontario, Ore.
"The sale of the Grassy Mountain Project will provide our company with sufficient funds to grow the business during these difficult times in the market," said Buck Morrow, the president, CEO and chairman of Calico.
Along with Wheeler, RockStar is made up of four former Coeur employees, including president and chief operating officer K. Leon Hardy; executive VP for environmental compliance and government affairs Richard T. Richins; senior vice president of metals Edward Jette; and chief financial officer Elizabeth Druffel. Cecil Andrus, the former Idaho governor and former U.S. Secretary of the Interior is a member of the board of directors.
RockStar's offices are located at 120 S. Second St. in downtown Coeur d'Alene. RockStar formed in September, and this is its first acquisition.