The return of a resource estimate on Pacific Comox Resources Ltd.’s property 60 kilometres west of Kirkland Lake is just one small example of the strong exploration activity in the Temiskaming region.
“We’re doing a lot of good work out there, and our hopes are certainly quite high for the future,” says Don Empey, president of Pacific Comox.
According to the estimate, the South Zone on Pacific Comox’s Ryan Lake copper-molybdenum property has an indicated resource of 5.9 million tonnes grading 0.34 per cent copper, 0.039 per cent molybdenum, 0.09 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 5 g/t silver.
Separate resources are being prepared for two other zones on the property, known as the North and CLT zones.
This exploration effort is just one of many taking place in the region, as Gino Chitaroni, head of Polymet Resources can attest. The Cobalt-based bulk sampling and assay analysis firm has been kept busy handling work from several of the Temiskaming area’s mining exploration projects.
Business has been steady enough that Chitaroni is looking to introduce training upgrades for his six full-time and four part-time employees.
“It’s steady work, certainly,” says Chitaroni.
The firm’s clients include the likes of Armistice Resources Corp., which is currently undertaking underground drilling and bulk sampling at its 484-hectare McGarry project, 40 kilometres east of Kirkland Lake. Armistice has also recently hired Hamilton-based Python Mining Consultants to develop a mining plan and resource update for the site.
Other Polymet clients include Maximus Ventures Ltd. and NFX Gold Inc., which recently entered into a merger agreement. The two companies are working within a joint venture on the Larder Lake property roughly 35 kilometres east of Kirkland Lake. Three drills are turning on the site, and have already completed 19,500 metres of the 43,000-metre program for 2008.
Kirkland Lake Gold Inc.,“which is most of what’s keeping us busy these days,” Chitaroni says, is continuing to see success from drilling on its South Mine Complex. In fact, ongoing work has increased reserves by 52 per cent over the last year, bringing proven and probable reserves to 543,000 ounces of gold. Resources have also increased by 63 per cent, reaching 236,000 ounces.
The 2009 exploration budget has already been set at $6.3 million, nearly half of which will be used for diamond drilling. The company currently has five drills turning on the property, and two more are to be added by the end of the year.
Queenston Mining, which shares a joint venture with Kirkland Lake Gold on the nearby South Claims, recently wrapped up nearly 50,000 metres of resource definition drilling on its own Upper Beaver gold property. A resource calculation is expected in the coming months.
Sixty kilometres to the west, Northgate Minerals Corporation is moving forward on a bankable feasibility study for its Young-Davidson project.
The company is also eyeing the purchase of equipment in anticipation of building a 5,000 tonne-per-day mill to process ore from the site, which is expected to have a 10-year life once production begins in 2010. Total expenditures of getting the site into production are estimated to be in the range of $300 million, which would involve shaft-sinking, creating a ramp, as well as surface construction costs.
Nearly $18 million of this total involves upgrading 50 kilometres of a 115 kilovolt (kV) line from Kirkland Lake to Matachewan, as the current 75 kV line is insufficient to power the mill. Seven new kilometres of powerline will also need to be added.
The Kirkland Lake region plays host to many more exploration projects, according to the Ministry of Northern and Development and Mines (MNDM)’s regional resident geologist Gary Grabowski.
He estimates that current numbers are likely to match the 140 active exploration projects seen at the beginning of 2008, ranging from basic prospecting to large-scale diamond drilling.
While more up-to-date reports are still being compiled, Grabowski says that the district has had $8.9 million worth of assessment work as of the end of May. This compares against the $15.6 million total seen through 2007, and the $17 million seen in 2006.
This does not reflect straight exploration expenditures, but rather the fees needed to keep claims in good standing, he says. He cautions that this may seem deceiving as many of the larger projects may in fact account for the bulk of the total.
Despite the strong potential for three new mines within the next five years through Northgate, Queenston and St. Andrew Goldfields, Grabowski says the manpower problem remains a big question.
Kirkland Lake once had a population of 20,000 and has since shrunk to 8,000, meaning the infrastructure is already in place for a larger workforce to support these developments. The concern, he says, is where the people for these mines will come from.
“Local companies are already having trouble finding enough people to expand. Where are we going to find 300 or 400 miners?”
