Letters to the Editor Madeleine’s mystery mine

I write you because I am concerned with Madeleine Mines of which I possess 1,500 shares.

I refer to two 1988 articles in The Northern Miner, one March 14, the other July 18.

The first one mentioned that production at Lac des Iles was expected to start in June. Did this happen? Did The Northern Miner actually see the mine?

The second relates to the Compania Minerals DeCopan (N.M., July 18/88). Reserves had been estimated by Madeleine Mines at 25 million tons grading 0.22 oz gold. They have dwindled down to 1.3 million tons with a cut grade of 0.1 oz.

There were plans to raise production to 5,000 tons a day based on internally generated cash flow from production of 250 tons a day. Now it appears that there is a loss of $74,000 for 1987; cash flow may of course be positive, but what happened?

Madeleine Mines has been peddled by a Spanish outfit. A lot of boiler-room operators run to Spain when life becomes difficult for them in Great Britain and the Netherlands. One phoned me cold and tried to sell me Goldhearst. The guy wanted to sell the shares at $1.32, then brought his price down to $1 but meant U.S. dollars instead of Canadian.

The fact that you wrote that four Canadians will do the work of 3,000 South African miners made me wonder. Is there a mine in Lac des Iles? Did you see a road (which the government paid for)? Did you see buildings, milling machinery? Is there a reduction facility at Thunder Bay where the matte will be produced? By which company has the ore been assayed? Please can you give me some more details and be more careful on presentations.

Looking forward to seeing a letter or an article in The Northern Miner on Madeleine Mines. I once more want to write you how much I appreciate The Northern Miner. Stan Staelens Schilde, Belgium