Fifteen Years Ago / August 1988

Noranda buys Falco block

Noranda has quietly gone to the open market and emerged as Falconbridge’s largest shareholder.

While the market was distracted by some heavy trading of the Falconbridge issue, Noranda acquired 8.7 million common shares of the giant nickel producer. The acquisition, which represents about 10% of Falco’s 86.8 million outstanding shares, was made through the Toronto, Montreal and Nasdaq exchanges.

Noranda started to buy shares in early July at an average of $22 each, the day after Falco outbid Noranda for a 24.9% control block of its own shares (for $960 million) from Placer Dome. Rival bidders included Outokumpu, Rio Tinto Zinc, and Boliden.

Hall of Fame selects inductees

The first inductees into the recently formed Canadian Mining Hall of Fame will be announced at an inaugural dinner in Toronto in November.

The Hall of Fame will pay tribute to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the Canadian mining industry.

Ten individuals will be inducted posthumously, along with two who are living.

Falconbridge President William James will be the keynote speaker.

Holt-McDermott unveiled

American Barrick Resources has opened the Holt-McDermott mine, 25 miles north of Kirkland Lake, Ont., and the new gold producer is nothing if not a feat of engineering.

Scheduled to churn out 80,000 oz. next year, when a sophisticated, 1,400-ton-per-day mill is running at full speed, Holt-McDermott should be a steady performer in Barrick’s portfolio of seven gold mines.

Wawa rush predicted

A mini-Hemlo in the making at Mishibishu Lake, near Wawa, Ont.?

That’s The Northern Miner’s impression from a helicopter flight over of this bustling new gold area.

Certainly the activity has added some excitement to Wawa, which was built for iron ore. Almost overnight, the population has surged to more than 6,000 from 4,600.

In a area about 45 miles southeast of Hemlo, companies have staked more than 8,000 claims, tying up the entire Mishibishu greenstone belt. Already, three mines are assured for the new camp (though they are much smaller than their Hemlo counterparts).

Carlin trend formidable

Predictions that the Carlin gold belt could eventually rival Witwatersrand, South Africa, as a gold producer cannot be discounted, given the reserves found there by companies such as Newmont Gold.

The number of discoveries made in recent years is truly remarkable. Newmont’s proven and probable reserves stand at 302.6 million tons averaging 0.049 oz. gold per ton, and the major has vowed to spend US$450 million to develop its holdings.

Indeed, Newmont has been blocking out reserves at such a breakneck pace that it is having a hard time finding non-orebearing areas for plant sites, leach pads and tailings disposal.