By NICK STEWART
One mining junior is looking to find both inspiration and nickel at the site of the past-producing Langmuir No. 1 and No. 2 mines, located 25 kilometres southeast of Timmins.
Having invested $12 million on the 2,800-acre property since 2005, Inspiration Mining Corporation is looking to spend another $12 million on exploration at the property through 2008 to further determine what lays beneath the surface.
“Timmins is basically known for gold, but the nickel is not too shabby,” says Inspiration Mining president Randy Miller.
“We’ve got some really good grades and we’ve got some really good interest from different folks. It’s shaping up to be a very good project.”
Also due throughout the year are a trio of reports to be delivered through Toronto-based Micon International. Set to take place over two phases, these will include the development of a mineral resource estimate, which will also help to prepare for the collection of a bulk sample at the Langmuir No. 1 mine. A preliminary economic assessment will examine the viability of eventual production of the No. 1 mine through underground workings, and of the No. 2 mine through an open pit operation. A technical report will also be compiled.
Langmuir No. 1 is a former underground mine, once operated by the now-defunct Timmins Nickel and which produced over 100,000 tonnes averaging a grade of 2 per cent nickel. With a ramp dug down to the 350-foot level, Inspiration is working on in-fill drilling to identify the mineralization below the existing workings to a depth of 900 feet.
While the resource estimate is expected to be delivered later this year, recent drilling has turned up the likes of 7.61 metres of 1.39 per cent nickel and 14 metres of 1.17 per cent nickel. Given these numbers and the property’s history, Miller has high hopes for its future potential.
“I cannot believe that it will not get mined at some point,” he says.
The Langmuir No. 2, on the other hand, produced 1.1 million tonnes grading 1.54 per cent nickel. Currently, Inspiration is taking a look at a northwards extension of this mine, which will be mineable via open pit. Its strike length reaches roughly 525 metres on surface, with up to 15 metres of overburden, and it remains open to the north and at depth.
Despite the presence of two mines, much of the remaining property has gone underexplored, and Miller estimates that Inspiration itself has only drilled between 10 and 15 per cent of the site. Roughly 3.5 kilometres of distance separates the two existing mines, and geophysical work done last summer may hint at some additional ore bodies not only between the two, but in other areas of the property as well.
This will translate to four or five drills working steadily on the property through the year on exploring new targets and developing old ones. Nearly 50,000 metres are expected to be drilled by Timmins-based Crites Drilling. As the year progresses, development work will be performed on the Langmuir No. 1 ramp, with some dewatering to allow for additional drilling of difficult targets that are otherwise inaccessible from surface.
