Lithos approaches production at Bourlamaque-Nord

New life is being breathed into the Wrightbar gold project, just east of here, by Lithos (ME).

Now known as Bourlamaque-Nord, the project was developed between 1986 and 1988 to a vertical depth of 550 ft. by partners Wrightbar Mines and Belmoral Mines. Some $13.5 million was spent on a ramp, four trackless levels on the east zone, a 1,500-ft. track drift at the 400-ft. level on the west zone, and stope and other underground development work before the partnership broke up. Lithos, which was created through the amalgamation of Wrightbar and Charlim Explorations, recently completed dewatering the underground workings and is hoping to be producing gold within the next few weeks.

“We can mine for one year with the existing development, but after that we’ll have to do our own development,” executive vice-president Luc Lamarche told The Northern Miner during a site visit.

Slightly more than 2,000 tons of material had been stockpiled on surface and another 2,000 tons had been stockpiled underground at the time of the visit. Initially, up to 10,000 tons will be prepared for milling.

Lithos has no mill, and Lamarche has approached the owners of existing facilities in the area to negotiate a custom-milling contract. An agreement is expected shortly.

The Lithos property sits just outside the city limits of Val d’Or, along Hwy. 117. The large, polymetallic Louvicourt mine of Aur Resources lies several kilometres to the east.

Reserves (all classes and as calculated by Wrightbar-Belmoral in 1988) for Bourlamaque-Nord stand at 304,657 tons grading 0.227 oz. gold per ton (at 25% dilution of zero grade, cut to 1 oz.). That reserve figure does not include all of the sub-zones.

The Wrightbar-Belmoral partnership completed 9-10 deeper holes, to between 800 and 1,100 ft. “The vein is still there,” Lamarche said, adding that it appears to be thicker.

A report by G.M. Hogg & Associates in 1988 describes the geology of the project’s deposits as consisting “of mineralized quartz-tourmaline-bearing shear zones,” striking N 70 W and dipping 30-40 to the north. “They are traceable over distances approximating 1,000 ft., and vary in thickness from a few inches to about 20 ft.,” states the report. “They are contained within granodiorite of the Bourlamaque batholith, close to its southeastern boundary.”

The East zone consists of mineralized shear sub-zones known simply (in descending order) as D, C, B, A, A1 and A2. The West zone, according to Hogg, “consists essentially of a single mineralized shear system in which coarse auriferous pyrite, quartz and

tourmaline are irregularly distributed.”

Lamarche said exploration work undertaken by Lithos (the company has 20 miners on-site, split between two shifts) indicates the presence of another sub-zone (already designated the E sub-zone).

The West zone drift is equipped with a ventilation raise, which Lamarche is thinking of turning into a small hoist.

Lithos calculates a capital cost of about $1.5 million to bring the property into production.

The company raised $875,000 with a flow-through offering and is completing a $500,000 public financing (1.25 million shares at 40 cents each, plus warrants, to a maximum of 25 subscribers).

Lithos also raised $50,000 through the sale of 100,000 common shares from treasury to Soquem, the Quebec Crown mineral exploration corporation. Based on a production rate of 275 tons per day at a grade of 0.19 oz. (diluted), output in the first year will be about 16,000 oz., Lamarche said. (At the time of the visit, daily production rates were approaching 400 tons.) The president of Lithos is Guy Goulet. The chairman is Georges Dumont, who was recently inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame. Meanwhile, Lithos has other active property interests.

On the southern portion of the Wrightbar property, now known as the Bourlamaque-Sud project, a unit of Noranda (TSE) is exploring for base metals under a 5-year agreement, which gives Noranda an option to earn a 50% interest. (A work program during a sixth year could earn Noranda an additional 20%.)

At the 391 molybdenum-bismuth project in Preissac Twp., exploration work to date has included drilling to about 550 ft. and the calculation of a reserve estimate of more than 1 million tons of 0.271% MoS2 and 0.053% Bi. Lamarche said a ramp and mill are needed to place the property into production.

The company also has three lithium properties and is negotiating to acquire a fourth. Lithos undertook a technical and economic feasibility study to determine the viability of mining one of the properties (Sirmac, north of Chibougamau) and of a lithium carbonate plant; the study, which involves metallurgical testing and other work by the Centre de Recherches Minerales du Quebec, is due for completion in March.

A lithium carbonate plant in the Saguenay region of the province may be able to supply aluminum producer Alcan, which uses lithium carbonate in its smelting process.

And looking further into the future, Lithos sees the possibility of producing lithium metal, which has found application in areas such as batteries and medicine.