goldstandard

Carlin Trend gold explorer Gold Standard Ventures (GSV-V) landed a C$16.1-million investment from Goldcorp (G-T) this morning, fortifying its treasury to explore and build ounces in Nevada's Railroad-Pinion district.

The deal was done at $1/share, a gravity-defying 11% premium to Friday's closing price.

Goldcorp takes a 9.9% stake on an increasingly crowded shareholder registry. OceanaGold (OGC-T) owns about 15% of Gold Standard stock and has the right to acquire up to a 19.9% stake, while Albert Friedberg's FCMI owns more than 16% of outstanding shares.

That should make any potential takeover interesting.

Gold Standard has oxide gold resources delineated at the Pinion and Dark Star deposits, and has been generating headlines recently with rich intercepts north of the Dark Star zone, including 157m of 1.51 g/t gold, 149m of 1.38 g/t and 97m of 1.61 g/t.

The company, helmed by hard-driving Jonathan Awde, has been steadily growing its large land package on the Carlin Trend.

The deal generated some buzz at CEO Chat as well as congratulations for @RobMcLeod, a Gold Standard director.

"Great news regarding $GSV Gold Standard Ventures -- wonderful sign to continue to raise dollars from entities that have a lot of smarts, but also to raise money at such a premium to the current stock price," said @Guy.

"Getting a premium in the current market speaks volumes regarding the project and management acumen," commented @TheGalvanizer.

For Goldcorp (and other majors in the depletion business), the deal is a reminder that at some point exploration and acquisition will need to be a focus, bear market or not.

Goldcorp was formerly the world's top gold miner by market capitalization, but it has been passed by Barrick as its shares plummeted 46% in the past year.

Goldcorp's last big acquisition was its $526-million purchase about a year ago of Probe Mines and its Borden gold project in northern Ontario's Porcupine district.

Gold Standard Ventures
Price: $1.00
Shares outstanding: 167 million (pre Goldcorp deal)
Cash: $14 million (as of Dec. 16)
Market cap: $167 million

NR: Gold Standard announces C$16.1 million strategic investment by Goldcorp

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