Eastmain raising $14M for Eau Claire

VANCOUVER–You might say Eastmain Resources (ER-T, EANRF-O) has a golden touch: the company recently announced visible gold in 34 of 51 holes drilled during its 2007 program at its Eau Claire deposit, in northwestern Quebec, and the next day, lined up a $14- million private placement.

The company says the latest drill results could boost Eau Claire’s resource estimate. The deposit lies on the Clearwater property, about 200 km east of James Bay, and holds 1 million indicated tonnes grading 9.46 grams gold per tonne and 3 million inferred tonnes grading 6.9 grams gold.

The 2007 program zeroed in on the 450 West zone, the central part of a series of gold-bearing veins 1 to 9 metres. The deposit, which is open in all directions, has been traced along 300 metres width, and 1.5 km length.

The company reports that visible gold occurred relatively evenly across the drill grid, and was found from surface to a depth of 60 metres (deeper drilling was completed in past years).

Some of the more significant results were: 1 metre (starting at 43.4 metres depth) grading 85.82 grams gold in hole 82, and 3.5 metres grading 79.76 grams gold in hole 87.

In the private placement, Eastmain will issue 10 million units priced at $1.40 apiece with each unit comprised of half a share and half a warrant expiring two years after closing. Each whole warrant can be converted into a share for $2. The placement included a 1.5- million-unit overallotment under the same terms.

Eastmain owns 100% of the Clearwater property, which hosts a total of three deposits. Eau Claire is part of Eastmain’s focus on gold in Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick. Westmin Resources originally outlined a 6-km-long gold-in-soil anomaly, and visible gold in the southeastern, and peripheral vein B. But Eastmain reports that the main mineralized area, or what the company calls the ” main group of veins” was not discovered until 1999 after a season of trenching and stripping.

This year, Eastmain plans to drill east of 450 West, complete a scoping study, and get approval to build a 2.5-km all-weather road to access the property.

At presstime, Eastmain shares traded at $1.34. Over the last 52 weeks, the stock traded between 57 and $1.68.