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Probe Mines

Prospectors hadn’t paid much attention to the exploration potential around Chapleau until 2010, when the results of drilling done by Probe Mines at its Borden property showed gold running top to bottom through all eight core samples.
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Drill core taken from Probe Mines’ Borden gold property near Chapleau showed low-grade gold running throughout, encouraging further exploration at the site.

Prospectors hadn’t paid much attention to the exploration potential around Chapleau until 2010, when the results of drilling done by Probe Mines at its Borden property showed gold running top to bottom through all eight core samples. It was low-grade, but showed enough promise that the company hasn’t stopped drilling since.

“It’s hard not to be blown away by the positive aspects of this project,” said Breanne Beh, Probe’s exploration manager, during a recent visit to Sudbury. “Basically, 99 per cent of the company’s efforts right now are focused on the Borden gold deposit.”

The company’s excitement over the
deposit was echoed by the Ontario Prospector’s Association last November, when the organization awarded Probe the 2013 Ontario Prospector Award for the discovery.

Located one kilometre off Highway 101 just outside the town of Chapleau and 10 minutes from rail access, the property, comprised of 400 square kilometres of claims, is at the edge of the Kapuskasing structural zone and Wawa sub-province, amongst rocks that aren’t typically known for hosting gold. It’s one reason why not much exploration has taken place there.

“People didn’t really think they’d be the best rocks to look in for gold,” Beh said. “So it’s really created a very unique situation here where, somewhere like Timmins or Wawa, they’ve had 100-plus years of exploration and here in the Chapleau area there’s virtually nothing that’s been done, so it’s very exciting.”

A January 2013 resource estimate showed an indicated resource of 3,686,000 ounces of gold averaging 1.02 grams per tonne (g/t) and an additional inferred resource of 625,000 ounces of gold averaging 1.08 g/t (figures based on an open-pit model).

“What’s interesting about Borden is that it’s, literally, a new discovery,” Beh said. “This isn’t a revisited gold camp. It’s really a prospecting success story.”

The community of Chapleau, which has traditionally been a lumber town, has been receptive to the work and the potential for economic development spin-offs, Beh said. Probe has had a memorandum of understanding in place since 2011 with the three neighbouring First Nation communities of Chapleau Cree, Chapleau Ojibwe and Brunswick House.

Over the next few months, the company will focus on drilling Borden’s high-grade zone. Four drills will be focused on an infill drilling program, with the goal of improving the grade and size of the deposit. Probe expects to drill more than 40,000 metres of drilling.

In addition, the company is planning a 5,000-metre exploration drilling program on its 350-square-kilometre East Limb project, which is located 30 km east of Borden and extends all the way up to Foleyet. After examining surveys, mapping and prospecting data, Probe has chosen five target areas for follow-up drilling.

“By putting together this land package, we’re operating on the idea that where you find one deposit you find many,” Beh said. “So we’re really hoping that this new property has high potential for other deposits to be found.”

The company anticipates releasing an updated resource estimate before the end of the second quarter of 2014, which will include the first results on the high-grade zone. Probe has also undergone some internal restructuring, with the hiring of Yves Dessureault as chief operating officer in May.

Beh said the company has a well-stocked treasury to finance the upcoming work.

“What’s great about Probe is that, despite the fact that that the industry hasn’t been doing quite so well the last couple years, we’ve got over $30 million in the treasury,” she said. “So we’re really able to push forward when times are a little tough right now and continue to expand and understand that high-grade section without having to worry too much.”