Voisey's Bay discoverers sell interests

The finders of Newfoundland's huge Voisey's Bay nickel deposit are cashing in their royalty interest for C$180 million and 1 million shares of a new mining royalty company.

Christopher Verbiski and Albert Chislett, the prospectors who uncovered the deposit in 1993, are selling their wholly owned Archean Resources to International Royalty, which filed a preliminary prospectus earlier this month.

Archean holds a 2.7 percent royalty on the Voisey's Bay property, where Inco is scheduled to start operations in 2006, producing 100 million pounds of nickel concentrate and 70 million pounds of copper concentrate to become the world's top nickel producer.

Verbiski and Chislett made their discovery while working for Vancouver-based Diamond Fields Resources, setting off a bidding war between Inco and Falconbridge that Inco won by paying C$4.3 billion to acquire Diamond Fields.

International Royalty is based in Denver, with mining consultant Douglas Silver as chairman and chief executive officer.