Barksdale acquires Arizona copper projects from Rio Tinto

Barksdale Resources (TSXV: BRO) has entered an definitive agreement to acquire two copper exploration projects located in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, from Kennecott Exploration Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO; LSE: RIO).

Barksdale is advancing the Sunnyside copper-zinc-lead-silver and San Antonio copper projects, both located in the Patagonia Mountains of southern Arizona.

With the addition of the Goat Canyon and Canelo copper projects, the company has now increased its footprint in the largest copper producing state in the United States from 12,300 acres to 30,910 acres (4,978 hectares to 12,509 hectares).

Acquisition of the Goat Canyon and Canelo copper projects is an excellent strategic fit within Barksdale's Arizona project portfolio as it more than doubles the property position within the Patagonia mining district, Barksdale stated in a press release.

Goat Canyon is an early-stage porphyry copper-molybdenum project, about 10 km northwest of Barksdale's Sunnyside project.

The property consists of 430 federal mining claims covering approximately 8,650 acres (3,500 hectares), as well as two Arizona State Land Department exploration leases that cover an additional 1,254 acres (508 hectares).

The Canelo project is an early-stage copper porphyry and skarn/CRD exploration project located 10 km north-northeast of the Sunnyside project. The property consists of 433 federal mining claims covering approximately 8,700 acres (3,521 hectares).

As consideration for the two projects, and for certain raw geophysical data that covers the company's Sunnyside and San Antonio projects, Barksdale has paid Kennecott US$35,000 in cash as well as a 2% net smelter return royalty that covers both acquired properties.

Meanwhile, Barksdale has also entered into a definitive agreement with Regal Resources to acquire 100% ownership of Sunnyside project, thus removing all further work commitments as well as share and cash payments contained in the companies' 2017 option agreement.