Toronto explorer spins off a new company to chase Far North gold

A Toronto gold exploration company, with multiple projects in two provinces, is spinning off its Ontario assets into a separate outfit. 

With six projects on the go, Northern Superior Resources wants to concentrate on its”rapidly progressing” Quebec gold properties in the Chibougamau camp, but also believes its Ontario assets deserve some attention with its own dedicated team and committed funding.

The most promising Ontario property in the mix is the Ti-pa-haa-kaa-ning Project (TPK) in the remote James Bay region, a prospect the company bills as the largest gold in-till anomaly in North America, meaning there are small pieces of gold floating around in the ground.

Barrick Gold has staked ground on four sides of TPK.

The proposed transaction will be carried out as a purchase and sale of the Ontario assets to an independent shell company with the issuance of common shares worth a deemed value of $18.2 million. 

Northern Superior will be the largest shareholder at 72.5 per cent.

Following regulatory approval, this new spinoff will be called Superior Minerals.

Rodney Barber, the company’s senior vice-president of exploration, will be president. Former Northern Superior CEO Tom Morris will be the chair.

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TPK is a 47,796-hectare high-grade gold, silver and copper property that the company said hosts two large independent mineralized systems. A field team discovered a boulder containing more than 700 grams per tonne of gold.

The project is situated in Nibinamik First Nation and Neskantaga First Nation traditional territories.

Northern Resources has set aside $3 million that’s sitting in escrow and earmarked for exploration and development purposes.

The other Ontario asset is its October Gold Property, 105 kilometres southwest of Timmins, 35 kilometres northwest of IAMGOLD's Côté mine project, now under construction. Northern Superior picked up the project last year as part of its acquisition of Genesis Metals.

The October Gold Project is in the traditional territory of the Flying Post and the Chapleau Cree First Nations. 

“This transaction will provide a dedicated company, including capital and a management team, to advance our Ontario assets, particularly the highly prospective district scale TPK Project,” said Simon Marcotte, Northern Superior’s president-CEO in a news release.

“The geological potential is certainly world class, evidenced by previous results, the various companies operating in the vicinity, and considerable global attention to the vast mineral potential of this area. Northern Superior has continued to advance targeting efforts through the compilation of the robust exploration database and stands ready to launch a program on completion of the transaction.”