Canadian mining firm to sell half its Penobscot County timberlands for $1.5M
Photo / COURTESY LANDVEST
The Pickett Mountain deposit was discovered in 1979 by Getty Mining Co. Ltd.
Wolfden Resources Corp. — a mining exploration and development company based in Toronto, Ontario — has agreed to sell a 3,770-acre parcel from its 6,862-acre Penobscot County timberland for $1.5 million.
The sale agreement followed the Maine Land Use Planning Commission’s denial a year ago of a request by Wolfden and Franklin County to rezone the area for industrial uses.
The agreement gives Wolfden exclusive rights to explore and buy back the mineral rights of the parcel for a period of five years.
The land is north of Wolfden’s wholly owned Pickett Project, where its retains 3,082 acres that hosts a high-grade polymetallic critical mineral deposit along with all mineral resources and known exploration upside, according to a news release.
Wolfden is focused on high-margin metallic mineral deposits including precious, base and strategic metals. It has two nickel sulphide deposits in Manitoba and one of the highest-grade polymetallic projects in the U.S., including zinc, lead, copper, silver and gold.
The sale is expected to close on or before Jan. 31 and is subject to final approval of Canada’s TSX Venture Exchange.
The transaction will be settled in cash. The name of the buyer was not disclosed.
The deal includes an amendment to Wolfden’s agreement with Altius Royalty Corp., a Canadian natural resources exploration company that owns and acquires royalty interests in certain mineral properties.
In 2022, Altius bought timber rights and carbon credits on Wolfden’s entire 6,862-acre property for $1 million. In the amended agreement, Altius will forfeit timber and carbon rights on the severed parcel but will retain those rights on Wolfden’s remaining land, among other provisions.
Mineral deposits
According to Wolfden, Pickett Mountain has one of the highest-grade undeveloped deposits of its type in North America.
A mining law enacted in the Maine legislature in 2017 provided clarity on the process to permit the mining of metallic minerals in certain situations and with higher commodity prices, reviving interest in high-grade projects like Pickett Mountain, according to the company.
The land is located just off Route 11 north of Patten and along the border of Penobscot and Aroostook counties. The deposit is three miles off the highway. Access to rail is 15 miles to the southwest from the town of Island Falls.
The Pickett Mountain deposit was formerly known as the Mount Chase deposit and discovered in 1979, by Getty Mining Co. Ltd., a division of Getty Oil.
Ground geophysical surveys and diamond drilling were completed between 1979 and 1985 until a corporate takeover of Getty by Chevron curtailed any further exploration work, according to the company.
Chevron went on to explore the property intermittently between 1985 and 1989. In 1989, Chevron allowed its property lease to lapse.
In 2023, two Maine Tribes and environmental law groups filed a petition to stop the proposed mine, which would be located in the shadow of Baxter State Park and the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument.
Wolfden, incorporated in 2009, acquired the property for $8.5 million in 2017.
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