SAO PAULO, Brazil (miningweekly.com) – Vancouver-based Carolina Capital has acquired a 100% interest, subject to certain underlying royalties, in the Montana-based Madison gold/copper project, where it has identified a series of existing gold and copper zones that remain open for expansion.

The company, which has won approval from the TSX Venture Exchange to change its name to Broadway Gold Mining from Tuesday, noted that the project was an “exciting opportunity” with near-term production potential, being located in the historic Silver Star Mining District, 38 km south-east of Butte, Montana, the location of the world-renowned Butte copper mine.

The Madison mine consists of six federal patented lode claims, 34 federal unpatented lode claims and one federal unpatented placer claim totalling more than 182 ha, in addition to a 78 ha ranch, together with permits, rights, interests, mining equipment, buildings and fixtures, as well as an exploration database that includes 101 drill holes, multi-element and gold assays from rock-chip sampling and bulk sampling, and detailed geological mapping, the company reported Monday.

The project also hosts the historic Broadway gold mine, where production from the 1880s to the 1950s yielded about 450 000 t grading an average of 0.32 oz/t gold from about 1 830 m of underground workings to a vertical depth of about 230 m.

Vendor Coronado Resources’ financial statements highlights direct expenditures of about C$9.9-million and $2-million on the Madison project since 2005.

Coronado had completed drilling programmes and bulk sampling between 2005 and 2012, stockpiling oxide gold and massive sulphide gold and copper mineralisation for subsequent mill shipment.

Coronado shipped its first oxide gold, averaging 0.694 oz/t gold, to Barrick Gold's Golden Sunlight mine, at nearby Whitehall, in 2008. The first sulphide gold, averaging 0.71 oz/t gold, was shipped to Kinross Gold's Republic mine, in Republic, Washington, in 2009. Based on data from 12 shipments, the gold recovery had an overall average of 83%.

Historically, about 20 000 t was shipped as bulk samples during underground development and trial mining. Coronado did not calculate a mineral resource or reserve estimate.

Broadway paid Coronado C$250 000 upon closing, with 500 000 shares due on the first and second anniversaries of the deal, and another C$100 000 payment upon declaring commercial production.

Broadway has also closed a $990 000 financing to pay the balance of costs to complete the acquisition of the Madison mine and finance the company's exploration and development programme.