Sudbury-based Wallbridge Mining Company has entered an agreement to acquire the Fenelon Gold property from Balmoral Resources Ltd. for $3.6 million.
Fenelon Gold is located in west-central Quebec and is located within the same geological belt that hosts the Detour Gold Mine located 185 kilometres northeast of Cochrane.
In a news release, Alar Soever, executive chairman of Wallbridge, said the acquisition is part of the company’s strategy to become a sustainable producer.
Over the last year, the company evaluated more than 100 properties to acquire, looking for criteria including being in a mining-friendly jurisdiction, having a short timeline to a production decision, having a minimum mine life of one to three years, having a manageable capital cost, and drill indications for potential resource expansion, he said.
“The Fenelon Mine property meets every one of those criteria with historic resources, existing infrastructure at site, including over one kilometre of underground development, provincial and local road access, reasonable proximity to a number of gold milling facilities with available capacity as well as drill indications for potential resource expansion," Soever said.
Fenelon’s in-situ historic measured and indicated resources were estimated at 47,927 tonnes grading at 19.61 g/t Au (including 3,098 tonnes of on-site broken ore). An additional 27,245 t grading 12.79 g/t Au of historic inferred resources were also estimated.
While the figures
are reliable, the company said it would prepare a new report, since 16,000
metres of drilling has occurred since the resource report was completed in 2005.
Over the next eight to 12 months, the company plans to update its resource
report, consult with First Nations, initiating the permitting process, sourcing
bids for mining and milling, and completing a pre-feasibility study, which
should lead to a production decision.
The deal between Wallbridge and Balmoral is expected to close by the end of
July.
