Remote alpine terrain in Yukon’s Tombstone Gold Belt, where Sitka Gold is consolidating its RC Gold Project.
By Mo Shine
Sitka Gold Corp. is moving to complete its $6 million cash acquisition of the Clear Creek gold property in Yukon, a transaction accelerated through the court-supervised receivership of Victoria Gold Corp.
The arrangement would give Sitka 100% ownership of Clear Creek and complete its consolidation of the contiguous 447-square-kilometre RC Gold Project in the Tombstone Gold Belt. Closing remains conditional on approval from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial List), including an approval and vesting order.
The deal gives Sitka control of a property that hosts the 2.25-million-ounce inferred Rhosgobel gold resource, as well as several exploration targets where recent drilling returned broad, near-surface gold intervals. It also removes the prospect of further equity issuance for the final payment under the original acquisition agreement.
Sitka announced the arrangement on July 28, following an agreement with PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc., the court-appointed receiver and manager of Victoria Gold’s assets. The agreement was signed on July 27.
Key terms of the Clear Creek transaction
| Item | Terms |
|---|---|
| Cash payment at closing | $6 million |
| Royalty granted at closing | 5% net smelter return (NSR) |
| Royalty buy-down option | Reduce NSR to 2% for a one-time $10 million payment |
| Property ownership after closing | 100% Sitka Gold |
| RC Gold land package | 447 km² |
| Rhosgobel inferred resource | 2.25 million ounces of gold |
| Planned 2026 drilling at Clear Creek | 45,000 metres |
The $6 million payment represents the final deferred payment under a June 2024 purchase agreement between Sitka and Victoria Gold. Under that earlier agreement, Sitka issued 21,843,401 common shares to Victoria, representing approximately 8% of Sitka’s outstanding shares after the issuance.
The original agreement also included three deferred payments: $2 million due by August 30, 2025; $3 million due by June 24, 2026; and $6 million due by June 24, 2027. Sitka satisfied the first two payments through share issuances in August 2025 and June 2026.
Under the new receiver-led arrangement, the final $6 million payment is being accelerated and must be made in cash. Sitka said the structure avoids issuing additional shares for the final payment, although the earlier equity consideration remains part of the acquisition history.
At closing, Sitka will also grant a 5% NSR royalty on Clear Creek. The company can reduce that royalty to 2% by making a one-time $10 million cash payment at any time after the royalty is granted. Sitka will also retain a right of first refusal if the royalty holder proposes to sell all or part of the interest to an arm’s-length third party.
Diamond drilling is central to Sitka Gold’s current exploration program across the RC Gold Project.
What Clear Creek adds to RC Gold
Clear Creek is adjacent to Sitka’s existing RC Gold claims, about 100 kilometres east of Dawson City. The property is accessed by a secondary gravel road from the Klondike Highway and sits within the broader Tombstone Gold Belt, a region known for intrusion-related gold systems.
The acquisition consolidates several mineralized areas into a single district-scale land package. Sitka describes RC Gold as one of the largest consolidated exploration positions in the belt, located between Victoria Gold’s Eagle Gold Mine and the past-producing Brewery Creek mine.
The Clear Creek property hosts the Rhosgobel deposit, where Sitka reported an inferred resource of 100.68 million tonnes grading 0.70 grams per tonne gold for 2.25 million ounces. The estimate is reported under Canada’s NI 43-101 disclosure framework.
The company has also outlined targets at the Pukelman-Contact zone and Bear Paw Breccia zone. Recent reported drill results include:
- 93.3 metres grading 0.50 g/t gold, including 23.6 metres at 1.00 g/t gold, from the Pukelman intrusion;
- 119.0 metres grading 1.10 g/t gold from surface in metasediments at the Contact zone; and
- 21.0 metres grading 1.05 g/t gold at Bear Paw Breccia, including 10.0 metres at 1.64 g/t gold and 3.5 metres at 2.29 g/t gold.
These results are exploration intersections and do not establish an economic mining operation. The resource at Rhosgobel is inferred, a classification that carries a lower level of geological confidence than an indicated or measured resource. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not demonstrate economic viability.
Sitka’s broader RC Gold resource inventory includes 1.291 million ounces of indicated gold and 3.829 million ounces of inferred gold, according to the company’s July 2026 disclosure. The figures cover multiple deposits across the project and should not be treated as a reserve estimate.
Drilling plans remain the immediate focus
Sitka has planned a 60,000-metre diamond drilling program across RC Gold in 2026, with 45,000 metres allocated to Clear Creek.
The planned Clear Creek program includes:
- 30,000 metres at Rhosgobel, aimed at expanding the recently defined deposit;
- 10,000 metres at the Pukelman-Contact zone; and
- 5,000 metres at Bear Paw Breccia, with the objective of developing initial mineral resource estimates.
At the time of the announcement, Sitka said approximately 30,000 metres had been completed in 59 drill holes across the wider program. Six drills were operating on site, with a seventh rig being mobilized.
The full ownership structure may allow Sitka to direct drilling across the property without coordinating exploration priorities with a separate claim holder. It also gives the company greater control over how Clear Creek is evaluated alongside the Blackjack, Eiger and Rhosgobel deposits.
The project’s road access is another factor relevant to exploration planning. Clear Creek is not an advanced mine development, but existing access could reduce some logistical challenges compared with a completely greenfield Yukon discovery. Seasonal conditions, permitting, infrastructure requirements and future environmental obligations remain material considerations.
Exploration core from a Yukon-style intrusion-related gold system requires further drilling, sampling and technical evaluation.
How the Victoria Gold receivership changed the transaction
Victoria Gold entered receivership after the June 24, 2024 failure of the heap leach facility at the Eagle Gold Mine, which released cyanide-bearing solution and triggered a major environmental response in Yukon.
On August 14, 2024, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice appointed PwC as receiver and manager over Victoria Gold’s assets. The receiver took control of the company’s property while remediation, asset management and a sale process proceeded under court supervision.
Clear Creek is not the Eagle Gold Mine, and Sitka is not a party to Victoria Gold’s operating or environmental liabilities at Eagle. However, Clear Creek was among the Victoria Gold assets controlled by the receiver, which meant that the remaining steps in Sitka’s purchase had to be addressed within the receivership process.
Sitka’s original agreement gave it a path to acquire Clear Creek, but Victoria’s financial distress created uncertainty around timing, payment mechanics and the transfer of title. The new arrangement is designed to accelerate that process. The approval and vesting order would approve the agreement and transfer Clear Creek to Sitka free of encumbrances, other than permitted encumbrances defined in the agreement.
The receiver’s role is important because the transaction is not simply a conventional bilateral property purchase. It must satisfy the requirements of the court overseeing Victoria Gold’s assets, as well as customary closing conditions.
The receivership also places the transaction in a wider Yukon context. The Eagle incident has increased scrutiny of mine design, financial assurance, environmental monitoring and the ability of companies to fund remediation. For exploration companies, the issues are more distant operationally, but they remain relevant to permitting, stakeholder confidence and the financing standards applied as projects advance.
What investors and explorers will watch next
The immediate milestone is the court approval and vesting order. Until that order is issued and the transaction closes, Sitka’s 100% ownership of Clear Creek is not complete.
After closing, the main operational question will be whether the company can convert the property’s exploration potential into a larger and more coherent resource base. The 45,000 metres of planned drilling should provide the next significant flow of technical data, particularly at Rhosgobel and the Pukelman-Contact area.
The royalty structure will also remain part of the project’s long-term economics. A 5% NSR can affect project-level revenue if Clear Creek advances to production, although Sitka has the option to reduce the royalty to 2% for $10 million. The right of first refusal could give the company additional control over the royalty’s future ownership.
For Yukon exploration, the deal illustrates how receivership proceedings can reshape ownership across a mineral district. A distressed owner’s asset may still contain substantial exploration value, but transferring it requires legal certainty, court oversight and a buyer prepared to fund the remaining obligation.
Sitka’s move gives it a unified land position and removes the final deferred payment tied to Victoria Gold. The next test will be whether drilling across that larger position can add ounces, improve geological confidence and establish a credible path toward future development.
Sources: Sitka Gold transaction announcement, Sitka Gold Clear Creek property background, PwC Victoria Gold receivership information, and Skillings Mining Intelligence.
