TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – TSX-V-listed Maudore Minerals has poured its first two gold bars for about 945 oz from the Sleeping Giant gold mill and adjacent tailings facility, in Quebec, after acquiring a subsidiary of North American Palladium (NAP), NAP Gold, for $18-million in cash and 1.5-million common shares in March.

"Our transformation from a junior exploration company to a well-capitalised gold producer was accomplished in an astonishingly quick timeframe in one of the most difficult financing environments that the gold sector has experienced in recent memory. We are quite encouraged by the potential cash flow from our newly acquired assets and with the excellent platform we now have to grow the company," chairperson and CEO Kevin Tomlinson said on Monday.

Maudore recently held a contest among its new employees at the Vezza project and the Sleeping Giant complex to select a new corporate name for NAP Gold. A total of 119 entries were submitted and Sleeping Giant mill warehouse clerk Pascal van Doesburg won, with his suggestion that the new corporate name of NAP Gold be changed to Aurbec Mines.

Meanwhile, on April 18, Noront Resources and Maudore entered into an agreement that terminated the purchase and sale agreement to acquire Noront's 25% interest in the Windfall Lake project, in Quebec, and Maudore had informed Eagle Hill Exploration that it would no longer pursue its proposed business combination between the two companies.

"We continue to believe in the merits of a transaction between Maudore and Eagle Hill, especially considering the added benefits and synergies that our acquisition of NAP Gold would bring to a transaction. However, while our discussions with Noront and Eagle Hill were constructive, we concluded that it would not be prudent to pursue the transaction as it was structured, particularly given the significant decline in market valuations affecting the gold sector,” Tomlinson said.

Maudore’s TSX-V-listed stock on Monday climber by 10.29% in value to close at C$0.75 apiece.