m-pin, one year later - ontario prospector's · 2019. 12. 10. · 4 ontario prospector fall 2019...

OntariOP rFall 2019

The new goldenage of theSuperior East Region

Mining inNorthwestern

Ontario

M-PIN,one year later

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OntariO Prospector FaLL 2019 3

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PrinteD in canaDa 09/2019

in this issueMessage from the Ontario Prospectors association executive director, Garry Clark .................................................................4

Message from the president of the northwestern Ontario Prospectors association, Mike Grant .................................. 6

Mining in northwestern Ontario ..............................................................8

Generation Mining: Marathon property updates ..........................10

M-Pin, one year later ..................................................................................12

argo Gold: reviving an old gold mining camp .............................14

the new golden age of the Superior East region .......................20

4 OntariO Prospector FaLL 2019

executive directorGarry Clark

Message froMthe ontario ProsPectors

associationOntariO prOspectOrs

assOciatiOn941 cobalt crescent

thunder Bay, on P7B 5Z4t: (807) 622-3284 tf: 1 (866) 259-3727

The past summer has seen exploration on a roller coaster.

There has been an increase in the price of gold due to the

instability of trade around the world and the conflicts be-

tween various nations. The other side of the pricing has seen

copper stagnant and cobalt dropping. The positive effects on

exploration in the province really haven’t been seen. There

is less exploration off mine sites this year than has been seen

in many years.

Speaking with prospectors and juniors, they are putting

interesting projects together and are ready for the investors

coming back from the summer break. There is a noticeable

change in the prospector and junior acquisitions on the new

computerized claim system. It is seen that prospectors that

usually work within a short distance from their residence

are acquiring ground across Ontario.

In a limited exploration environment, there are still some

great success stories across the province. Gatling Explora-

tion in the Larder Lake area, Great Bear Resources in Red

Lake, North American Palladium (great palladium prices)

near Lac Des Iles and Manitou Gold in the Wawa area have

all been making headlines with their exploration. It would

be great to see more of this when the markets turn and the

investors realize exploration is the best game in town.

The Ontario Prospectors Association continues to be ac-

tively engaged in:

• providing direction to MNDM on the Mining Land Ad-

ministration System (MLAS) to create a more user-friendly

interface;

• reviewing the plans and permits process focused on

streamlining the system and providing a more effective

consultation process;

• providing input on protected areas and land use issues

across the province;

• interacting with other stakeholders on the issues effecting

access to mining lands;

• providing the Ontario Exploration Corporation (the Pros-

pectors Funding vehicle). The fund has been in place since

2002 assisting prospectors across the province; and

• operating and delivering the Ontario Prospectors Explo-

ration Showcase to bring explorers, government and con-

tractors together from April 6 to 8, 2020 at the Valhalla

Inn in Thunder Bay.

The OPA would like to wish all explorers extreme success

this fall and winter with their exploration projects and hope

to see the results of your projects presented in Thunder

Bay at the Ontario Prospectors Exploration Showcase from

April 6 to 8, 2020.

The 2019 NEOMMS will be held in Timmons, Ont. at the

Ramada Inn from Oct. 1 to 2. The theme is “To 2020 and

Beyond”. The keynote speaker for the dinner will be Robert

McEwen, executive chairman of McEwen Mining. l

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On April 2, 2019, during the Ontario Prospectors

Exploration Showcase (OPES), the Northwestern

Ontario Prospectors Association (NWOPA) held its

annual general meeting (AGM) and annual awards dinner.

Elections at NWOPA’s AGM brought one new face to the

board of directors. Jessica Bjorkman departed after seven

years, her latter two years spent as vice-president and pres-

ident. Her sister, Ruth Huber, is our newest board member.

NWOPA extends its sincerest thanks to Jessica for her

years of service and inspiring leadership. The 2019-2020

board can be viewed at NWOPA’s website (nwopa.net).

The 2019 NWOPA Awards Dinner was once again well-at-

tended. Recipients of the Dave Christianson Lifetime

Achievement Award, the Dan Calvert Distinguished Ser-

vice Award, the Bernie Schnieders Discovery of the Year

Award and the Developer of the Year Award were hon-

oured together with the winner of Lakehead University’s

Bernie Schnieders Memorial Award. All award winners

can be viewed on NWOPA’s website. As a departing gift

to the membership, Jessica presented a very diplomatic

challenge to the Hon. Greg Rickford, Minister of Ener-

gy, Northern Development and Mines (MENDM), who

was in attendance, to have the massive inefficiencies of

Ontario’s new digital Mining Lands Administration Sys-

tem (MLAS) resolved in short order. Jessica’s open letter

can be read in the most recent edition of the Claim Post at

nwopa.net/claim-post.html.

The NWOPA board’s top priority will continue to be

its efforts to see MLAS improved. In mid-August, a board

representative met with the senior manager of Mining

Lands to present and discuss a prioritized list of features

that are a relentless source of frustration to prospectors

trying to obtain and administer mining rights in Ontario.

Also, director Breanne Beh arranged for her company’s

lands manager to participate in a working group of Min-

ing Lands and industry representatives that is addressing

these problems.

On a more upbeat note, Thunder Bay Mining Day 2019

was a booming success with record numbers of exhibitors,

attendees and sponsors. The organizing committee esti-

mated that some 3,000 people came out in the spectacular

weather to enjoy the activities and learn about our indus-

Mike Grant

MESSaGE FrOM thE PrESidEnt OF thEnOrthwEStErn OntariO PrOSPECtOrS aSSOCiatiOn


try. I invite you to visit thunderbay-

miningday.com for more details and

some great pictures. Congratulations

to all who participated and support-

ed this seventh annual event – and

please remember the sponsors.

In support of Mining Day, the

Thunder Bay chapter of Women in

Mining (WIM) hosted a barbecue.

The proceeds, $1,500 in sales and

corporate donations, will support

WIM’s scholarship fund for students

in a mining-related field, ideally at

an institution in northwestern On-

tario. More information is available

at wimnwo.com/copy-of-sponsors or

email Pam Coles at pcoles@lakeheadu.

ca.

NWOPA is seeking members to

serve as mineral sector representa-

tives on the Local Citizens Commit-

tees (LCC) that advise the Ministry

of Natural Resources and Forestry

(MNRF) regarding land use and for-

estry activities. If you are interested,

there are further details at nwopa.net/

land-use-issues.html or you can con-

tact me directly at lcc.lakeheadfor-

[email protected].

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On behalf of the members of the

NWOPA board, I hope that you are

having a safe and enjoyable season

on the land and that in the review of

your data you find at least an option-

able property, if not the beginnings

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Precious metal prices strengthened in 2019,

therefore providing direct benefit to New

Gold Inc., Harte Gold Corporation, Barrick

Gold Corporation, Newmont Goldcorp Inc. and

North American Palladium Ltd., and their mines in

Northwestern Ontario. As of Aug. 28, the price of

gold was $1,542.00 per ounce (U.S.) and palladium

was $1,441.00 per ounce (U.S.).

Robust gold prices provide a level of confidence

with respect to future mine development including:

Greenstone Gold’s Hardrock Mine, Treasury Metal’s

Goliath Project, Pure Gold’s Madsen Mine, Rubicon’s

Phoenix Project and First Mining Gold’s Springpole

Lake Project.

Greenstone Gold (Centerra Gold and Premier

Gold) have $54 million budgeted for 2019 expendi-

tures at the Hardrock Mine, including detailed engi-

neering, infill drilling, indigenous consultation, per-

mitting, project support and property acquisition. If

all timelines are met, Greenstone Gold states that a

production decision could be made in late 2019, with

construction leading to production by 2021. Open-

pit mine life is 15 years, with underground resources

(future shaft) significant as well.

Treasury Metals received Federal EA approval

in August for the Goliath Deposit, located east of

Dryden. Detailed engineering, community consul-

tation and permit(s) acquisitions are in progress.

A business decision on construction could then be

made by the end of 2019; if that decision is positive,

mine and mill construction could begin in 2020.

Mine life (open-pit and underground) is 13 years.

Down hole IP and fieldwork east of the deposit are

underway as well.

Pure Gold completed their Feasibility Study for

the Madsen Mine project (located west of Red Lake)

in early 2019. A decision to proceed to construction

was made following financing (August). Current

gold resources suggest a 14-year mine line. In Q3,

Wabauskang First Nation and Lac Seul First Nation

signed a Project Agreement with Pure Gold. Madsen

will be Northwestern Ontario’s next gold producer.

Rubicon Minerals Corporation released a positive

Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for the

Phoenix Gold Project, Red Lake. Life of Mine would

be 6.2 years with approximately 500,000 ounces of

gold produced.

Mining inNorthwestern

Ontario

By John Mason, P. Geo., D. Sc.,Project Manager, Mining Services,

thunder Bay Community EconomicDevelopment Commission


First Mining Gold continues work with the federal govern-

ment on the Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Spring-

pole Lake Gold Deposit, located east of Red Lake. The request

to Ontario for all weather road access started in 2018.

Lithium remains a sought after commodity globally for

high temperature glass and electric vehicle battery applica-

tions: Exploration projects by Avalon Advanced Materials

(north of Kenora), Frontier Lithium (north of Red Lake), Ar-

diden (northeast of Armstrong) and Rock Tech Lithium (south

of Beardmore) have lithium deposits totalling approximately

25 million tonnes that potentially can assist to address EV de-

mand five years out. The global lithium industry is shifting

toward hard rock deposits, as opposed to brines, making the

Northwestern Ontario deposits extremely attractive.

Zenyatta Ventures Ltd. (Zen Graphene Solutions) complet-

ed a bulk sampling program on the Albany Graphite Deposit

located proximal to Constance Lake First Nation and Hearst.

Nine-hundred ninety tonnes of ore was drill extracted by re-

verse circulation drilling, which was then refined by SGS Lab-

oratories to 99.8 per cent pure “graphene pre-cursor material”.

The final product will then be available for customer testing,

with the graphene market being the priority.

Superior Lake Resources will reopen the Winston Lake-

Pick Lake Mine Zinc Mine located north of Schreiber. Po-

tential production is forecast, by the company, to commence

within three years. Two million tonnes of 15 per cent zinc ore

will feed a 1,000-tonne-per-day mill, for eight years.

North American Palladium is investing over $20 million in

mineral exploration at the Lac des Iles Mine and Sunday Lake

for 2019. Workforce growth is forecast at 19 per cent over the

next three years as Lac des Iles expands to become one of Can-

ada’s largest underground mines.

Newmont Goldcorp’s Musselwhite Mine production has

been severely impacted by an underground fire in March. Ag-

gressive exploration continues. Underground mine rebuild is

well underway.

Generation Mining has acquired the Sibanye-Stillwater

Marathon palladium-copper deposit.

Benton Resources has acquired the Thunder Bay North

and Escape Lake palladium deposits, located north of Thun-

der Bay.

New Gold Inc.-Rainy River produced 66,000 ounces of gold

in Q2 and launched an exploration program on the Intrepid

North area.

Mineral exploration dollars are elusive on many fronts.

Bucking that trend is Great Bear Resources, 2019 NWOPA

recipient of the Bernie Schneiders Discovery of the Year

Award, who have embarked on a 90,000-metre drill pro-

gram on the Dixie Lake gold project, located southeast of Red

Lake. l


Generation Mining may be a relatively new company,

but its roots go far deeper than what meets the eye.

Generation Mining, incorporated in January

2018, is a mineral exploration and development company

which focuses on palladium, copper, zinc and molybdenum

projects in Canada (more details can be found on its website at

genmining.com). Generation Mining holds majority interest

in an advanced project called the Marathon Palladium deposit

in Northern Ontario, as well as four promising explorations in

British Columbia, Nova Scotia and the Northwest Territories.

Jamie Levy, president and CEO of Generation Mining, says

the company is actualy a spinout of a company called Pine

Point Mining, which was taken over by Osisko Metals Inc. in

February of 2018.

GEnEratiOn MininG:Marathon property updatesBy Cindy Chan

“The expiration assets out of Pine Point were put into

Generation Mining,” Levy explains, adding that Pine Point had

been around since the 1990s.

Discovered in the 1940s to 1950s, the Marathon property

was developed from 1985 to 2010 by various companies with

over 203,000 metres of drilling in 1,094 holes. Marathon

PGM Corporation eventually owned the property, and

completed a feasibility study in 2008 and another in 2010.

Stillwater Mining, which operates out of Montana, took over

the property in 2010 for US$118 million.

“Stillwater had worked on this asset for a few years,” Levy

says. Eventually, after extensive permitting and additional

studies, Stillwater placed the property on care of maintenance

as palladium hovered near $500 per ounce. In 2016, South

African miner Sibanye purchased Stillwater, becoming

Sibanye-Stillwater.

“We approached Sibanye-Stillwater in early 2019 that we

were interested in the Marathon property,” Levy says. “We

closed the deal on July 10.”

Generation Mining acquired the Marathon Palladium

Project by purchasing the initial 51 per cent interest for $6

million, with an option to increase that holding to 80 per cent.

According to Levy, below is what Generation Mining has as

historic resources from the Marathon deposit in the southern

property:

• 3,591,000 ounces of palladium

• 908,000 ounces of platinum

• 365,000 ounces of gold

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Eighty-five per cent of palladium is used for autocatalysts.

A typical automobile uses three to seven grams of palladium.

A worldwide deficit in palladium pushed the price to a record

high of $1,600 per ounce earlier this year.

The Marathon property is a three-hour drive from Thunder

Bay, Ont. It is located on the Trans-Canada Highway – next to

the Marathon airport – served by the CPR main rail line and

will have abundant power available from grid when a major

new power line being built from Wawa to Thunder Bay is

completed (it will cross directly over the Marathon property).

Marathon’s main deposit dips moderately west, providing

optimal open-pit mining conditions. Mineralization ranges

from four metres to a maximum thickness of 185 metres,

averaging 35 metres. The deposit is open at depth with

potential for UG expansion from the bottom of the pit.

On July 25, 2019, Generation Mining announced its passive

seismic program on the Sally area of the Marathon property.

The Sally area is located 20 kilometres from the Town of

Marathon and 15 kilometres northwest along strike from the

main Marathon PGM-Cu deposit. The survey is designed to

identify the potential for higher-grade PGM deposits at depth.

“Seismic has been used for a long time. Passive seismic is a

relatively new tool for mining although it has been used in oil

exploration for some years,” Levy says.

The 200-sensor passive seismic survey commenced on

July 19, with results slated to come out mid-September.

Passive seismic detects the earth’s natural low frequency

signals, which differs from active seismic since it doesn’t

require a strong source to induce seismic waves, therefore

environmentally benign and cost-effective.

“Our overall goal is to find a higher-grade deposit while at

the same time examining the economics of the current deposit

at these near-record palladium prices,” Levy says. l

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Canada’s mining industry is vast and full of opportu-

nity, which makes it a very attractive place to start a

career for people of many backgrounds and skillsets.

Unfortunately, internationally trained professionals coming

to Canada have historically had to face many challenges be-

fore being able to work in the industry: language barriers,

unfamiliar climates and unrecognized talent are just a few of

the major roadblocks that newcomers have faced. The repre-

sentation of immigrants and visible minorities in the Cana-

dian economy was 23 per cent and 21 per cent, respective-

ly; however, the representation of these under-represented

groups in mining was only 13 per cent and nine per cent,

respectively. Clearly, the sector still has some work to do in

attracting this growing source of labour. While the mining

industry continues to face challenges from a tight labour

market, companies and human resource organizations have

created programs to help immigrants acclimate to Canada

and enter its mining industry, and one of the latest projects

is celebrating its landmark first year.

The Mining Professional Immigrant Network (M-PIN) is a

joint effort between the Mining Industry Human Resources

Council (MiHR), The Toronto Regional Immigrant Employ-

ment Council (TRIEC) and Professions North/Nord (PNN),

with funding provided by the Government of Ontario. Since

September 2018, M-PIN has helped internationally trained

professionals become aware of opportunities and secure

good jobs in the Ontario mining sector, and helped the sector

itself by filling labour market shortages and increasing new-

comer representation in mining.

“Only one year in, we have been astounded by the inter-

M-PIN,one year laterBy alex Parsons

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est and community that has developed around the project,”

says Jennifer Wright, senior director of diversity and em-

ployment initiatives at MiHR. “M-PIN has had a big impact on

many internationally trained professionals looking to get into

the mining industry, as well as the industry itself, and it has

only just begun.”

Functioning as both an online and in-person networking

group, the free program has already accomplished its goals

to adapt, test and evaluate innovative engagement methods

to better integrate immigrant talent into the Ontario mining

industry, and continues to innovate. Over 150 internationally

trained professionals and employers have connected at in-per-

son networking events held at venues across Ontario, and over

170 have connected online through ENSEMBLE, The Mining

Diversity Network. Some industry human resource members

have also participated in inclusion and diversity training to

better recognize, address and prevent potential barriers to em-

ploying newcomers.

The program has already seen a wealth of success. For Lisa

Demmer, Rock-Tech’s former marketing and relationships

manager, this success came in the form of a shifted perception

after attending an M-PIN networking meetup in January.

“We have a much greater appreciation for the challenges

that newcomers face, even when they’re highly skilled,” she

says. “For an engineer with such excellent education and ex-

perience to take well over a decade to receive a professional

designation in Ontario, that certainly still means that there is

a lot of work to do.”

Despite the several challenges that lie ahead, other compa-

nies have already started warming up to the benefits of hiring

highly skilled, internationally trained talent. Shivan Singh, an

engineer from South Africa who had only moved to Canada a

month prior, found the meeting he attended in February to be

more helpful than he had imagined – he met his future em-

ployer there.

“I struggled to see opportunities in Northern Ontario in my

field,” Singh says. “However, when I reached Canada, attending

an M-PIN event and going to job fairs that Professions North/

Nord put me in contact with, I saw there are opportunities

here.”

Networking with other newcomers at the M-PIN event also

helped Singh learn how to get an engineering license in Ontar-

io, something that had been causing him a great deal of stress

overseas.

Singh is only one of hundreds whose professional lives

have been enhanced by the network. Even for those unable

to attend physical meetups, M-PIN’s online presence has also

grown dramatically since its inception, and continues to grow

strong still.

“The Mining Professional Immigrant Network was a great

opportunity that I think we really turned into something spe-

cial,” says Ryan Montpellier, executive director of MiHR. “2019

saw a real difference in our efforts to strengthen and diversify

the talent pool for the Ontario mining industry.”

Newcomers and employers alike can look forward to even

more networking events coming in 2020, with enhanced

training classes incoming as well. Blogs, webinars, discus-

sion forums, a shared calendar and more can be found on

ENSEMBLE , and joining is simple and free. Visit MiHR.ca to

learn more, and email [email protected] to join today. l

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Argo Gold: Reviving anold gold mining campBy delio tortosa and Judy Baker

after a 25-year lag in gold ex-

ploration in the Uchi Gold

Camp, Argo Gold Inc. has

been reviving exploration discovery

interest in the ‘shadow of the head-

frame’ south of the historical Uchi

Gold Mine with its high-grade Uchi

Gold Project in Northwestern Ontar-

io.

During the mid-1930s to the early

1940s, four gold mines were devel-

oped by Uchi Mines Ltd. under the di-

rection of Jack Hammel, a well-known

mine developer in the Red Lake area.

The gold mines are in the southeast

end of the Birch-Uchi Greenstone

Belt, about 100 kilometres east of the

prolific Red Lake Greenstone Belt.

Argo Gold’s Uchi Gold Project of 22

square kilometres of 100-per cent

owned claims is the highly prospec-

tive yet relatively unexplored ground

immediately south and on trend with

the historical mines. In the 1930s, sev-

eral companies were amalgamated

into a large property holding, which

became the Uchi Gold Mine Camp. A

settlement was established near the

main Uchi Mine shaft, which includ-

ed a hotel, school, post office, bank,

curling rink, community hall and 15

dwellings providing housing for min-

ers and their families.

Uchi Gold Mines Ltd. was later tak-

en over by Little Long Lac Gold Mines

Ltd., which became Lac Minerals Ltd.,

which was later purchased by Barrick

Gold Corp. The mines on these patents

underwent mine rehabilitation from

1996 to 1998 and have received limit-

ed exploration since the mines closed

during the Second World War.

Notably, the rocks and geological

structures associated with the Uchi

Mines extend to the south onto Argo

Gold’s Uchi Gold Property. During the

early days of exploration in the 1930s,

prospectors were able to identify sig-

nificant prospects on the Barrick Gold

patents to the north due to much bet-

ter rock exposure, whereas companies

exploring to the south had thicker

overburden cover (one to three me-

tres) and thus few outcrop prospects

Uchi Gold Mine ca. 1940.(Source: Red Lake Heritage Centre)


were identified. Argo’s exploration

approach is using modern tools and

techniques to offset this limitation

(geophysics, geochemistry including

biochemistry, surface stripping, map-

ping and sampling).

In the early 1990s, exploration on

Argo Gold’s Uchi Gold Project was

initiated by St. Jude Resources, and

by persistent prospecting and utiliz-

ing various exploration methods, the

Woco Vein was discovered near sur-

face. The narrow vein was stripped

and sampled returning modest but

good gold grades. With this informa-

tion in hand, St. Jude initiated a drill

program on the Woco Vein in 1993,

which was designed to test the vein

at shallow depths. Chester Kuryliw,

a well-known geologist, logged and

sampled the core, and to his surprise

noted that the vein increased in width

up to two metres at greater depth and

carried visible gold with assays of up

Woco Gold Project location and regional geology(after GSC OF 4256; OGS Map P3460).

Argo Gold’s Uchi Gold projecton trend property withhistoric gold mines and recent prospects.


to one to three ounces per ton gold. A

year later, a second drill program was

completed which outlined a steeply

plunging quartz lense or shoot with

high-grade gold down to 150 metres.

Argo Gold’s winter drill program in

2019 confirmed the historical discov-

ery with drill intercepts including 132

grams per tonne gold over 1.8 metres.

In 2016, Argo Gold was founded

to acquire high-grade gold projects in

Northwestern Ontario and an exten-

Gold outcrop. Given the evidence of

widespread gold mineralization at all

known outcrop defining a material-

ly mineralized gold corridor from the

past-producing Uchi Mine to Woco

and further southwest to Northgate,

Argo Gold staked another 8.4 square

kilometres along the mineralized Uchi

corridor in 2018. Argo Gold’s Uchi Gold

Project now covers five kilometres of

multiple mineralized trends made up

of materially mineralized outcrop and

confirmed high-grade gold mineral-

ization to the current drilling depth of

200 metres.

In the spring of 2017, Argo Gold

sive effort was made to look for suit-

able gold prospects. When we dug into

the assessment files on Woco Gold, it

became obvious that this was an excel-

lent acquisition, and so with some per-

sistence a deal with the private compa-

ny and owner of the property (former

president of St. Jude Resources). Sim-

ilarly, a separate deal was reached on

the adjoining Northgate Gold situated

several kilometres southwest of Woco

and following a similar regional trend.

In 2018, Argo Gold continued to ac-

quire ground in the camp with the

acquisition of the Geisler Patents con-

taining the known mineralized Rain-

Bill Kerr, lead exploration geologist on the UchiWoco Gold Project.

Photo of the Woco Gold Vein looking south.

Photo of helicopter transferring the drill rig February 2019.


raised financing to initiate explora-

tion at all of its 100-per cent owned

gold projects including several gold

project peripheral to Wesdome’s Ea-

gle Mine in the Wawa area and in

Northwestern Ontario, the Uchi Gold

Project and the McVicar Lake Gold

Project. Exploration was carried out

at the Uchi Gold Project by Argo Gold

Team Geologist William Kerr. Early

in the season, the Woco Vein was

cleared and sampled and the 1993

drill holes were located and probed.

Later in the season – after acquisition

of additional ground – Northgate

Gold – to the southwest along the

mineralized corridor – was cleared

and sampled. Northgate Gold has

wider shear-hosted gold mineralized

quartz veins at surface.

The probe work at Woco was pos-

sible as most of the 1993-94 drill cas-

ing was still in place on the Woco and

a Reflex crew was able to do a down-

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Drill rig on the first hole of the Woco Gold Vein.


hole orientation survey. Although

the core racks had collapsed and the

writing on the plastic tags had faded

after 25 years, the historical drill logs,

assays and downhole surveys were

then incorporated into 3D modelling

software. From the 3D model, plans

and sections, we could see that the

strike extension had not been tested

and the Woco Vein was still open at

depth. After some data compilation,

a drilling plan was designed to test

the core of the high-grade vein, the

strike extensions and depth extent

to 200 metres. With funding for a

2,500-metre drill program, Argo Gold

carried out a helicopter supported

drill program in the winter of 2019 at

the Uchi Gold Project focused on the

Woco Gold Vein, Northgate Gold and

the Uchi Break – a zone 300 metres

east of Woco consisting of fracturing,

mineralization, veining and shearing

extending south/southwest from the

historic mines to the north.

The initial drill hole at the Woco

Vein targeted the historic high-grade

Uchi Break, a structure closely associ-

ated with the historic Uchi Mines to

the north. Several holes intersected

the Uchi Break, which varied from

a zone of massive sulphide (mostly

pyrrhotite and pyrite with anoma-

lous gold 0.5 gm/t and manganese

0.6 per cent) in the north, to a zone of

metasediments with quartz veining

and containing ductile shear zones, in

the south.

Argo Gold also drilled the North-

gate Gold intersecting a shear-hosted

quartz vein system that was drilled by

Northgate Exploration in 1959 after

visible gold was identified in outcrop

the 1930s and later. Argo Gold veri-

fied the presence of a gold mineralized

shear-hosted vein system at North-

gate Gold where all three drill holes

intersected the vein system including

intersecting 34 grams per tonne gold

over half a metre. In addition, the min-

eralized zone was extended 50 metres

to the east-northeast for a total strike

length of 250 metres. There are sever-

al historical drill hole intersections on

this gold prospect from the late 1950s

(0.37 opt/3.3 ft, 0.27 opt/12.1 ft, 0.19

opt/ 4.8 ft), but little information is

available from drilling the mid-1930s.

Additional drilling is required to con-

tinue to determine the strike length,

depth extent and high-grade controls

of Northgate Gold and potential for a

deep-seated feeder system.

Current exploration work involves

a detailed biogeochemical sampling

survey at the Uchi Gold Project. The

program is designed to follow up on a

spring 2019 geochemical orientation

survey, which successfully identified

known gold mineralization. The de-

tailed geochemical survey will sample

a 600-metre wide swath along five ki-

lometres of the Uchi mineralized cor-

ridor. Approximately 1,100 samples

mineralized zone and intersected

a quartz vein almost two metres in

length with well-disseminated, fine-

grained, visible gold containing 132

grams per tonne gold over 1.8 metres.

This was the verification we need-

ed for the historical drill holes with

high-grade gold values. Drilling along

strike confirmed that the mineraliza-

tion occurs in shoots. A fan of two

drill holes targeted the Woco Vein at

150-metre depth with some visible

gold in the quartz, and the deeper hole

intersected a wider altered zone in the

hanging wall of the Woco vein. A fan

of three drill holes was positioned to

intersect the plunging shoot down to

200-metre depth. All of the three drill

holes intersected the Woco vein with

two drill holes showing visible gold.

Additional drilling is required to con-

tinue to determine the strike length,

depth extent and high-grade controls

of the Woco Vein and potential for a

deep-seated feeder system.

Argo Gold also drill tested a geo-

physics anomaly associated with the

Longitudinal section on the plane of the Woco Gold Vein, trending at 020o and dipping – 85O W with gold assays.


will be collected on a 60-by-60-metre

diamond pattern.

There is minimal outcrop at the

Uchi Gold Project, which now con-

sists of 22 square kilometres of min-

eral claims and identifying areas of

anomalous gold mineralization under

overburden will provide important in-

formation. Argo Gold does have very

high-quality AEM/AMAG geophysics

coverage for the Uchi Gold Project,

which defines the mineralized Uchi

Corridor and is useful in identifying

crosscutting structures and lithologies

that are potentially gold bearing. The

combination of geological and struc-

tural mapping at known outcrops,

geophysics and pending geochemical

gold anomalies will be a powerful com-

bination of information to advance ex-

ploration activities at Argo Gold’s Uchi

Gold Project, which covers five kilome-

tres of multiple mineralized trends in

the Uchi mineralization corridor.

Future exploration at the Uchi Gold

Project will also focus on extending the

depth of the high-grade Woco Vein,

additional drilling along strike and at

depth at Northgate Gold which also

hosts up to one ounce per ton gold in-

tercepts. Digital GIS and oriented opti-

cal borehole structural mapping tools

are being evaluated to better under-

stand high-grade structural controls.

The current Woco drilling along

with the historical drill holes from

the mid-1990s has identified a steeply

plunging lense (-70o NNE) of high-

grade gold mineralization on a NNE

trending, steeply west-dipping struc-

ture, which is still open at depth. Close-

ly spaced plunging shoots character-

ized the Uchi Gold Mine to the north is

an encouraging trend that could assist

with understanding the periodicity of

high-grade shoots and lode vein sys-

tems at Argo Gold’s Uchi Gold Project.

Lake gold discovery and First Mining

Gold’s continuing feasibility study on

the Springpole Gold Deposit by New

Mining Gold in the northern part of

the Birch-Uchi Greenstone Belt. Argo

Gold’s exploration activity at the Uchi

Gold Project in the south end of the

Birch-Uchi Greenstone Belt has poten-

tial to lead the next wave of high-grade

gold discoveries in the area. l

Several successful examples of mines

in these types of high-grade gold set-

tings are the Island Gold Mine, Ala-

mos Gold and the Eagle River Mine,

Wesdome Mines, Wawa.

Exploration activity and staking

has increased in the Red Lake and

the Birch-Uchi Lake areas driven in

part by Great Bear Resources’ Dixie


the Superior East Region of Ontario has seen ex-

ploration and mining activity since the turn of

the century. However, compared to other mining

camps in Canada, it’s generally underexplored. But there

are three companies set to make the most of their respec-

tive properties in the area.

trillium Mining corp.This early-stage, Toronto-based exploration company

headed by CEO Mike Timmins is focused on its high-

grade gold assets in the Wawa Gold Camp. The property

covers about 6,000 hectares of the Goudreau Lake Defor-

mation Zone and is contiguous to east of Alamos’ Island

Gold Mine. Their activities cover over eight kilometres of

mineralized horizons. Trillium is private and a relatively

young company, having been established in 2017.

“We have three principal assets – the past-producing

Edwards and Cline Mines and our regional land position,

which has been named Highland,” Timmins explains,

adding that all three mines comprise the Trillium Gold

Project.

The Edwards Mines, acquired by Trillium in 2017, op-

erated in two different eras. It first operated in the late

1930s and was closed just before the Second World War.

River Gold then operated the mine from 1996 to 2001.

“It produced around 144,000 ounces at 13 to 15 grams

per tonne,” Timmins says. “Key features at Edwards are

the relatively 4.5-by-4.5-metre mine portal and decline

down to about 300 metres vertical. Also, all of the elec-

trical infrastructure is in place and in great shape.”

The Cline Mine was acquired by Trillium in 2016 and

was a small mine producing about 60,000 ounces at six to

seven grams per tonne. Like Edwards, it operated in the

late 1930s and shut down in 1939. Over the years, Cline

has been the focus of many exploration companies and,

most notably, Noranda, which made the Lake Zone dis-

covery.

The newgolden ageof the SuperiorEast Region

Mike Timmins.


Filling out the development pipeline at Trillium is High-

land, their regional land position.

“There are over 18 historical gold targets regionally and

the two most advanced have had large bulk samples taken.

The Markes and Vega Zones will be the focus of our inves-

tigations in the next several months,” Timmins says. “These

satellites give some sense that we are seeing the scale re-

quired for a modern, tier-one mining operation.

“We are excited because this is the first time one company

has had the opportunity to advance all three of these assets

with a strategy and supportive shareholders.”

Timmins adds the company’s goals are to 1) establish

themselves in the community, 2) compile all of the histori-

cal and new 2019 data and information and 3) begin to plan

how to approach the project and expand its current a gold

resource.

“The key to success here is to build a significant, high-qual-

ity resource in an area of the country where communities

support our activities, this is what our team works on every-

day,” Timmins explains.

Wesdome Gold MinesProduction is also coming from Wesdome Gold Mines,

says Michael Michaud, vice-president of exploration. Wes-

dome is a junior gold producer with one producing mine

called the Eagle River Mine in northwest Ontario, outside

of Wawa as well.

“Our goal with this mine is incremental increases in gold

production year over year,” Michaud says. “The goal is to in-

crease the underground mining rate where reserves stand

at just over 12 grams per tonne; however, our average head

grade for the first half of 2019 has been 20.9 grams per

tonne, due to a new high-grade zone called the 303. The

increased production rate from the higher-grade under-

ground mine would replace the lower grade Mishi open pit,

which is only 2.0 grams per tonne, both feeding a central

mill. In order to ramp that production up, we need to ex-

plore around the Eagle River Mine, and that’s really what

we’ve been doing over the last several years.”

Michaud says Wesdome has ramped up its diamond-drill-

ing program from somewhere around 25,000 metres per

year to over 100,000 metres per year.


“We’re aggressively exploring and increasing the

production rate from underground,” he adds.

red pine explorationRed Pine Exploration’s flagship project is the

Wawa Gold Project located in Wawa, Ont. The prop-

erty comprises 6,500 hectares, just two kilometres

southeast of the town of Wawa. It encompasses eight

past producing mines from the late 1800s to the early

1900s.

“When we started working on this property in late

2014, there was already an identified resource called

the Surluga Deposit,” Mia Boiridy, head of investor

relations and corporate development, says. “This area

was the site of the first gold rush in Ontario and the

region was known for its high-grade gold mines.”

For the past four years, the Surluga Deposit has

been the company’s focus. They reissued a resource

for Surluga in June of 2019, bringing it up to over

500,000 ounces at a grade of over five grams per

tonne.

“We made another discovery, the Minto Mine

South Deposit. We issued resource for it in Novem-

ber of last year,” Boiridy says. “That’s 100,000 ounces

at 6.8 grams per tonne on average.

“We recently started drilling the Cooper Struc-

ture, one kilometre northeast of Surluga, and we

think Cooper is similar to Minto,” she adds.

Red Pine Exploration’s overall goals with the

Wawa Gold Project is to prove up over one million

ounces of gold near-surface on the property package,

and show that Surluga extends at depth in terms of

mineralization.

“What’s interesting is there is historical infra-

structure there with these old mines. We could have

access by using existing infrastructure, if it’s in good

standing,” Boiridy says. “We have two identified re-

sources, but there are six additional exploration tar-

gets. We could have potentially eight deposits on our

land package.

“We’ve worked, for the past four years, on proving

that there was high-grade mineralization at Surluga

and Minto. Now it’s going to be proving that there’s

more than just the two. We feel confident that there

will eventually be an operating mine on our land

package.” l


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