Athena Gold (CSE:ATHA) has appointed veteran resource investor Fred Leigh to its board of directors, effective immediately. Brian Power has resigned from the board in connection with the appointment but will continue working with Athena as a consultant.
Leigh has almost 40 years of experience as a founder, director, and investor in public resource companies. He is also the founder and president of private investment company VC7K Capital, which has backed early-stage resource opportunities for more than 35 years.
According to Athena, Leigh was a founding investor in the group that structured Wheaton River Minerals’ acquisition of the Golden Bear Mine. Wheaton River later established the streaming business now known as Wheaton Precious Metals (TSX:WPM).
Leigh was also an early investor in Hathor Exploration before its acquisition by Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) in 2011 and an early director of Great Bear Resources before Kinross Gold (TSX:K) acquired the company in 2022.
President and CEO Koby Kushner says Leigh’s experience will support Athena’s work in the Red Lake Gold District in Ontario, Canada.
“I look forward to working closely with Fred as we advance Laird Lake and look to prove out the next major gold discovery in Red Lake,” Kushner says.
Leigh says the district fits his history of investing in early-stage companies within established mining regions.
“I have spent my career backing early-stage stories in proven camps, led by teams with the drive and motivation to make a new discovery, and Red Lake is as good as it gets,” Leigh says.
Athena has also granted 2 million stock options to directors, officers, and consultants under its 2026 stock option plan.
The options are exercisable at C$0.34 ($0.34) per share, vest immediately, and expire after 10 years. They remain subject to Canadian Securities Exchange approval and carry a four-month statutory hold period.
Athena’s flagship Laird Lake Project covers more than 7,000 hectares along over 10km of the Balmer-Confederation Assemblage contact. The road-accessible property hosts what the company describes as a ‘high-grade’, near-surface gold discovery.
Laird Lake is located about 10km west of West Red Lake Gold’s (TSX-V:WRLG) Madsen Mine and 34km northwest of Kinross Gold’s Great Bear project.
Athena Gold’s portfolio also includes the Forester Project in Ontario and the Excelsior Springs Project in Nevada, US. At Excelsior Springs, Mammoth Minerals (ASX:M79) can earn an 80% interest and recently returned 10.67m @ 3.76 grams per tonne gold from 198.2m at Lunchbox Ridge, as reported by Mining.com.au.
Write to France Pinzon at Mining.com.au
Images: Athena Gold
