Nevada Exploration Inc. (TSX-V:NGE) has landed its first contract with a producing mining company to search for gold in groundwater.
The Vancouver-based junior announced today an agreement with Northgate Minerals Corp. (TSX:NGX) to use hydrogeochemistry to explore the Awakening Gold project in Nevada.
"This deal will be an important milestone for NGE," said Wade Hodges, Nevada's president and CEO. "It will allow us to focus on our strength of using groundwater chemistry to identify new, previously undiscovered gold bearing hydrothermal systems."
Nevada's process detects minute traces of gold in groundwater, which the company believes could be evidence of larger deposits nearby.
Under the agreement Vancouver-based Northgate can earn a 51% interest in Awakening Gold if it funds $4.1 million worth of exploration, and makes cash payments that total $435,000 over the next five years.
BIV first spoke to Nevada when the company moved its corporate headquarters to Vancouver last December.
At the time, the company had signed one joint venture so far, but said Vancouver was the place to find development partners for its 10 projects.
"We don't have the money, the people or the time to move all 10 of them forward ourselves, so we're looking for joint venture partners to help them move forward together," James Buskard, vice-president of corporate development, said at the time.
Nevada's share price range in the last week: $0.08 and $0.11; 52-week high: $0.28; 52-week low: $0.04.