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The Company's Eagle Gold Project in Yukon Canada hosts a National Instrument 43-101 compliant Reserve of 2.3 million ounces of gold.

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Message: INTERVIEW-Victoria to kick off Yukon gold rush in 2014
INTERVIEW-Victoria to kick off Yukon gold rush in 2014
03/24/11 - 12:06 PM ET - Reuters
* Plans full-scale production from Yukon project in 2014-CEO

* CEO says to produce 170,000 ounces a year

* 2011 budget for Yukon at C$15 mln

* Says 2011 budget for Nevada is C$5 mln

By Aftab Ahmed

BANGALORE, March 23 (Reuters) - Victoria Gold Corp plans to begin full-scale production from its flagship Eagle Gold project by 2014, but the Canadian mining company will not seek any partner for the Yukon territory project, its chief executive said.

"We expect permits in Q2 of 2012....It will have us in production at the end of 2013 with first full production in 2014 producing about an 170,000 ounces a year," Chief Executive John McConnell told Reuters.

The company also does not have infrastructure hassles in Yukon as its Eagle Gold mine is well connected to roads and grid power is within 25 kilometres.

The Klondike Gold Rush in Canada's Yukon Territory captured the world's imagination after gold was first discovered there in the 19th century and spawned numerous books, songs and poems and was the setting of Charlie Chaplin's 1925 classic "The Gold Rush".

The company's Eagle Gold project topped its earlier indicated resource estimate by 50 percent and now it is estimated to have about 4.8 million ounces of gold, it said in a statement released earlier this week.

With extensive knowledge of the region's potential, Victoria, wants to develop the Eagle Gold project in Yukon, its most promising mine, on its own and has earmarked C$15 million for the Yukon project this year.

"Our plan right now is do it on our own. And Kinross and other large shareholder, Sun Valley, have indicated they will participate in any necessary financing in 2012," McConnell, who is also a mining engineer, said.

Kinross Gold has about 17 percent stake in Victoria and privately held investment manager Sun Valley Gold LLC owns about 13 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Smaller mining companies usually tie up with bigger firms to ensure consistent fund flow to develop prospective projects.

"Well we don't encourage it (Kinross increasing its stake). We meet them on a quarterly basis and provide them an update on where we are and I would say they are quiet happy as a less-than-20-percent shareholder," McConnell, a skiing enthusiast, said.

Victoria, which has C$26 million in cash and zero debt, plans to fund Eagle Gold mine's C$250 million development plan through an equal mix of debt and equity.

The company also has projects in Nevada and its most advanced project in the region is a small high-grade project called Cove. It plans to spend C$5 million in Nevada in 2011. (Reporting by Aftab Ahmed in Bangalore; Editing by Prem Udayabhanu)
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