No place like home for Eastmain Resources

The notion that the grass is always greener on the other side of the globe has found little favor with Eastmain Resources (ER-T), a Toronto-based company exploring for gold and base metal deposits in Eastern Canada.

Acting on the belief that major deposits are waiting to be found in its own backyard, the company capitalized on the exodus of both Westmin Resources (now owned by Boliden) and BHP Minerals from Eastern Canada by acquiring their project portfolios in exchange for royalties. These predominantly base metal projects added a new dimension to the company’s exploration focus, which previously had been directed largely toward gold.

Prior to these acquisitions, Eastmain’s most prospective project was the Clearwater gold property near James Bay, within the Eastmain River greenstone belt of northern Quebec. Quebec government-owned Soquem is currently earning a 50% interest in the property by spending $2 million on exploration.

Earlier this fall, the partners released a drill-indicated resource of more than 300,000 oz. gold contained in 957,625 tonnes grading 10.9 grams per tonne. The Eau Claire deposit remains open to the northwest and at depth. The partners are now planning next year’s drill program, which is being designed to upgrade resources to reserve status.

The Clearwater project is believed to share similarities with gold deposits in Ontario’s Red Lake and Timmins camps, as well as deposits in Quebec’s Val d’Or region. The Eau Claire deposit consists of a series of parallel veins, which have been traced over an area 900 metres long by 300 metres wide.

Soquem also has found evidence of copper mineralization over a widespread area at Clearwater. This target is called the Rosemary zone.

On its own, Eastmain is exploring the nearby Reservoir project, which was previously explored by Westmin. Drilling to date has outlined a large gold-copper deposit with sub-economic grades (0.12% copper and 0.65 gram gold) that is speculated to represent “fringe mineralization” to a possible economic deposit.

In the same region, Eastmain optioned its Lac Elmer gold project to Barrick Gold (ABX-T), which spent several years exploring the property. Results to date are described as “below ore-grade,” though Eastmain says more work is required to evaluate the economic potential of the Lac Elmer trend.

On the base metal front, the BHP transaction provided Eastmain with properties covering known mining trends in Matagami, Que., and Bathurst, N.B., as well as the Abitibi Extension project in northern Ontario. The company also acquired an exclusive technical database, which included numerous untested base metal targets.

Within the Bathurst camp, Eastmain holds 900 claims covering 14,600 ha in nine projects. Though still in the early stages of exploration, the land package is believed to be prospective for deposits similar to those being mined (or previously mined) in the camp, such as Brunswick No. 12, Brunswick No. 6, Heath Steele and Caribou.

Included in the BHP portfolio is Railroad, a newly discovered volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) base metal deposit next to Noranda’s 20-million-tonne Heath Steele mine. Two previous BHP holes intersected 8 metres of 7% combined lead-zinc-copper, including 4.6 metres averaging 6.2% zinc, 3.2% lead and 0.3% copper, plus 70.6 grams silver and 0.321 gram gold per tonne.

Eastmain is focusing much of its 1998-99 exploration activities on Railroad, which is underlain by the same rocks that host the Brunswick No. 12 mine, also owned and operated by Noranda. After 35 years of production, the mine still contains reserves of 42 million tonnes grading 0.33% copper, 9.1% zinc, 3.6% lead and 104 grams silver.

Eight known VMS targets have been identified at Railroad: Island Lake, O’Leary, Captain West, Railroad, RIF, Roche Long Lac, Roche Long Lac North and Sprig Brook. Eastmain has begun focusing on the northern half of the property, where geological mapping is under way over the Island Lake, O’Leary, Railroad and Capitain West VMS prospects. This work will be followed by diamond drilling and trenching. Three VMS targets on the southern half of the property will be tested in the 1999 field season.

Eastmain management is bullish about the Railroad project, describing it as “one of the most important base metal exploration properties held in a Canadian mining camp.”

Meanwhile, Eastmain is seeking a joint venture for the Abitibi Extension project in northern Ontario, where BHP previously spent $1.5 million and identified 15 “first-priority” electromagnetic targets deemed prospective for VMS deposits.