A junior miner company on the hunt for copper and gold has enlisted university academics to help make sense of some complex geology near the Musselwhite Mine in northwestern Ontario.
Toronto's Romios Gold Resources has a research agreement with Lakehead University geologist Pete Hollings to conduct graduate level studies on the gold and base metal occurrences on its Lundmark-Akow Lake project. About $100,000 in funding from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) to support this two-year research program.
“The geology of the gold and base metal systems at Lundmark-Akow Lake is somewhat unusual," said John Biczok, Romios’ vice president of exploration, "so we are very pleased to partner with a world-class researcher like Dr. Hollings and his students in our ongoing efforts to determine the origins and controls of this mineralization and potentially locate additional gold and base metal zones."
The Lundmark-Akow Lake project is 18 kilometres north of Newmont’s Musselwhite gold mine. Romios has been exploring on the 8,000-hectare property since the late 1990s.
Drilling and geophysics over the last three and four years have led to the discovery of three Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide (VMS) zones, which can led to major sources of base and precious metals.
The company said one master of science has already been recruited to study the "plumbing system" of the project's VMS-type base metal occurrences.
Hollings has authored or co-authored more than 130 publications, primarily on mineral deposits and greenstone belt geology in Canada, Australia, China, the Philippines and elsewhere. He is also the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund's industrial research chair in mineral exploration.
“We are really excited to be partnering with Romios on the project and thanks to the support from NSERC hope to be able to make a significant advance in the understanding of this interesting system," said Hollings. "Romios is providing great support for our students and we look forward to continuing this collaboration.”
