Rift Res. eyes properties in Niger

EXP Resources, a privately held company in Alberta, can acquire a 60% interest in a 1,900-sq.-km gold-copper concession in southwestern Niger.

EXP secured the option by paying US$50,000, issuing 1.2 million shares to the vendor, and agreeing to spend $4 million on exploration over three years.

To date, it has spent US$200,000 on preliminary work.

To raise exploration funds, EXP recently sold 3.5 million special warrants at 25 cents each. Of these, Toronto-based Rift Resources (RIF-V) bought 2 million, representing 19% of EXP’s shares.

Each special warrant entitles the holder to acquire one share and half a share purchase warrant. One whole share purchase warrant entitles the holder to buy one share for 30 cents per share before Feb. 6, 1998.

Meanwhile, Rift President Terence McKillen has joined EXP’s board of directors, which is now made up entirely of Rift directors.

The concession, known as Tin-Awati, covers the southern portion of the Gorouol greenstone belt and the western edge of the Tera batholith.

Trenching and soil sampling are being conducted on four targets, with shallow reverse-circulation drilling and airborne geophysics expected to follow.