Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) said Monday it has acquired 8.7 million shares of ONGold Resources (ONAU.V), which translates to 15% of the company on a non-diluted basis.

The two companies signed an investor rights agreement, with ONGold granting Agnico Eagle certain rights to maintain its pro rata ownership interest or acquire up to a 20% stake in ONGold; and the right to nominate one to two directors (depending on the size of the board). Agnico Eagle confirms that it has no intention at present to nominate a director.

In a separate statement, Agnico Eagle, which also has an agreement with White Gold Resources (WGO.V), intends to acquire 1.14 million hard dollar (HD) shares at $0.22 each, by Jan.3. White Gold, which said Monday it had raised $5 million in the first tranche of a private placement, added that company insiders and Agnico Eagle had acquired additional 1.2 million HD shares under the offering.

Agnico Eagle last week commenced a friendly all-cash offer to buy O3 Mining (OIII.V) at $1.67 per share.