GREAT EXPECTATIONS

Over the nex t few years, Canada’s 70 gold producing mines will be joined by at least 10 major new producers and a handful of smaller ones. If gold prices remain high ($530(C) per oz at presstime), their names will undoubtedly remain in the mining lexicon for many years to come. The bigger ones are Colomac, the moniker given to a big, low- cost, open-pit mine planned for north of Yellowknife, N.W.T.; Golden Pond, an underground venture being operated by Inco Gold in northern Quebec; and Silbak Premier/Big Missouri, a twin open-pit mining project being developed by Westmin Resources in British Columbia. They and the others may very well become as talked-about in mining circles as the mines which opened up the venerable gold camps for which Canada is famous — the Golden Giant in Hemlo, the Dome in Timmins, the Giant mine in Yellowknife and the Lamaque mine in Val d’Or, Que., are known the world over. Following in the footsteps of these mature gold mines, Canada’s new mines too are opening up previously unexplored ground. The Golden Pond, Estrades, Kremzar and Tundra deposits are major deposits, unheard of five years ago. But many of the 100 promising gold properties listed on the map of Canada (which begins on the following fold-out page) are not breaking new ground. The majority are in former gold-producing areas of the country. Exploration geologists know the chances for finding a gold mine there are good — too good — to pass up. Many so-called “discoveries” in these areas are, however, adding significant reserves to the list of possible producers.

The total possible, probable and proven reserves of the top 100 gold exploration projects in the country (listed in the accompanying table) amount to an incredible 161.6 million tonnes of gold mineralization containing about 29 million ounces of the yellow metal. Not all of this mineralization will become ore, though. In fact, only a small portion will ever be mined.

The 10 largest new mines most likely to come into production over the next five years will probably add about 740,000 oz to the country’s annual gold output. That’s a sizable chunk — about 19% of the country’s 1987 total gold output of 3.87 million oz. But it’s nothing compared with the country’s top 10 existing gold producers. In 1987 they produced more than double that amount — a total of 1.8 million oz. In fact, only three of the new mines being planned — Colomac, Golden Pond and Silbak Premier/Big Missouri — have a chance to rate among the top 10 gold producers.

The 10 largest new mines, nonetheless, will require an estimated $500 million of investment capital in total to establish steady cash flow in the form of regular gold pours. That’s half a billion dollars which will go to creating hundreds of jobs not only at the mines and mills themselves, but in numerous spinoff industries which supply the mines. And those capital expenditures are being made from coast to coast. Every region of the country has a gold mine in the advanced engineering and procurement stages. Coxheath Gold Holdings of Halifax plans to give the Maritimes another, albeit small, gold producer this year by bringing the Tangier project into production and NovaGold has slated production of gold and silver at Murray Brook in New Brunswick for next year.

Corona Corp. is also in the final exploration stages at the Jolu property in Saskatchewan (that province’s second primary gold producer) and Neptune Resources is in the final, crucial stages of financing its big Colomac project in the Northwest Territories — a mine which could very well upstage the Territories’ pioneering gold mine, the Lupin.

A handful of major gold projects are planned in British Columbia. The biggest three are North American Metals’ Golden Bear mine, Westmin’s twin-pit development near Stewart (consisting of the Silbak Premier pit and the Big Missouri pit) and Teeshin Resources’ Dome Mountain mine. But many more mines will follow close on the heels of these projects — most notably Cominco’s snip mine and Cheni’s Lawyers.

In the Yukon, Omni Resources has an open pit planned at Skukum Creek, southwest of Whitehorse, and Noranda is advancing well on the Grew Creek deposit, near Faro.

With nearly 40 projects in the advanced stage of exploration, Ontario has the largest number of major projects on the go, followed closely by British Columbia and Quebec. Three of Ontario’s more advanced projects include Canamax’s Kremzar mine, near Wawa, and two big new mines in the Pickle Lake area. Placer Dome and St. Joe Canada are both bringing mines into production in Pickle Lake and Noramco will not be far behind them with the Highland-Crow project.

Inco Gold, Cambior and Aur Resources are the major mine-builders in northwestern Quebec. But at least 30 other advanced exploration projects jam the “Billion-Dollar Golden Highway” which stretches from Timmins in the west to Val d’Or in the east. This is by far the largest pocket of mining and exploration activity in the country. A wealth of information on these projects will be published in our October issue.

Two other precious metals mines are slated for production. A silver mine in Cobalt, Ont., being developed by International Platinum and Silverside Resources, and a palladium-platinum mine near Thunder Bay, Ont., being developed by Madeleine Mines. All this vibrant entrepreneurial activity, driven by the continuing high prices of precious metals and high off-shore investor interest, should keep Canada’s precious metals sector healthy for many more years.