A gold property in the Lake Nipigon area with “multi-million ounce” potential is up for sale by Landore Resources.
The British company said in a news release that it’s started a “strategic review” of its Canadian assets. The board of directors would entertain a sale of its Junior Lake Project, particularly its BAM gold deposit, would consider a joint venture deal, a strategic partnership, or some kind of combination.
With 1.5 million ounces of gold in the ground, and more likely to be found, the company said its board believes the timing is right to put BAM on the block. Meanwhile, a drilling program is being queued up for July.
The company released a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) of BAM in February and an updated gold estimate, which showed a 50 per cent increase in resources.
The PEA paints a picture of a two-pit operation with an on-site processing plant and a total mine life of 11.5 years, including pre-production. The initial capital outlay for the mine would be more than US$85 million.
The project is 235 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, 75 kilometres northeast of the village of Armstrong, and is accessible by a skidder road, one kilometre off a gravel truck haul road operated by Buchanan Forest Products.
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The company said it has discovered and outlined “several deposits” and other areas of “significant mineralization” of more gold, nickel, copper, cobalt and platinum group metals across the 33,000-hectare property.
“The resource has excellent growth potential remaining open at depth and along strike to the east and west, all within established mining leases which cover more than 20 kilometres potential strike length.” said Bill Humphries, CEO of Landore in a statement.
“It is the company's belief that the highly prospective Junior Lake Property has the potential to host multi-million ounce gold resources and is now exploring various strategic options to ensure the development of this rapidly-growing asset to the benefit of shareholders."
Exploration and geological mapping in the area goes back to 1917. Canadian Dyno Mines surveyed and drilled the property in the late 1960s and outlined a gold deposit. Landore optioned part of the property from North Coldstream Mines in 1998 and picked up additional claims from Brancote in 2000.
The VW nickel deposit was discovered in 2005 with the BAM gold deposit following in 2015.
Landore said they’re sitting on a highly prospective Archean greenstone belt, running east to west for 31 kilometres, where much of the mineral resources is located. The company adds a large portion of this belt remains unexplored.
