BASE METAL COMEBACK

Several ventures considered promising in previous years were dropped from this year’s list because they have been downgraded in terms of their status or because they simply don’t meet the selection criteria. Declining precious metal prices have made certain projects uneconomic, while still others have been stalled by financing woes or environmental concerns.

This year’s map is different, too, in that base metals plays have been added. Gold has temporarily lost some of its lustre, but prevailing strength in base metals is stimulating increasing interest in projects focusing on zinc, copper or nickel. So we couldn’t ignore them this year.

Besides the 50 projects compiled for the accompanying map, some others are also worth mentioning, mainly because of the investor interest they have generated over the past year.

Diamond finds north of Prince Albert, Sask., by Corona Corp. and Claude Resources have sparked a flurry of exploration activity, while graphite — the softer, carbon-based cousin of diamond — has been the focus of numerous exploration projects in Quebec and Ontario. Companies with promising graphite projects and good possibilities for production include Cal Graphite, Stewart Lake Resources and Societe Mazarin. Renewed interest in graphite has created several new exploration hot spots for that mineral.

The elusive search for platinum group metals is also keeping several compani es busy, although, like gold, the bloom is off that rose as well. International Platinum Corp. has 20 projects in its portfolio, while Madeleine Mines continues its measured pace to development at the Lac des Isles project in northwestern Ontario. Production still appears to be at least another year away for that project. Other Canadian exploration plays for platinum include two in British Columbia belonging to Longreach Resources.

A base metal discovery made in July on ground held by Aur Resources and Societe Miniere Louvem, near Val d’Or, Que., touched off a flurry of renewed exploration activity for massive sulphides in that area. The deposit, which lies at depths below 1,000 ft, has opened up a whole new exploration target in the Val d’Or camp. A major drilling program now under way suggests a major base metal deposit in the making.

Across the country, overall exploration expenditures (including flow- through money) are expected to total between $660 and $780 million this year. Given that level of expenditures, many projects will continue advancing toward production decisions. Most, if not all (we concede we might have missed some), of Canada’s key exploration plays can be found on the accompanying map and table.

Despite a dramatic slowdown in the junior sector and a general exploration slowdown worldwide, senior mining companies (most of which are flush with record profits) are busier than ever. According to the Halifax- based Metals Economics Group, more than 50 major mining companies are expected to spend a total of $543 million on Canadian exploration this year, making Canada still one of the most active in the world for mineral exploration activity.

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