Ansil on track foir Minnova

It’s not official yet, and won’t be for another few months, but Minnova Inc. plans to put its Ansil copper mine near here into production at the end of 1988 or beginning of 1989.

The Northern Miner recently toured the project where 80% of the drilling and assay work has been completed. Current reserves (calculated from surface drilling results) stand at 2.1 million tonnes grading more than 7% copper (with sections of 20% copper), 0.5% zinc, 24 g (0.7 oz) silver and 1.7 g (0.05 oz) gold.

Minnova’s Gerald Riverin, exploration manager for Quebec, calls the Ansil property a rich copper mine. “It’s certainly above average,” he said of the sloping, oval-shaped, massive sulphide ore deposit which is about 300 m wide.

Current activity at the mine site includes underground drilling, deepening of the main shaft and sinking of the ventilation shaft. The main shaft was originally sunk to 1,400 m, complete with three exploration levels, at 1,220 m, 1,280 m and 1,340 m. Further digging will take the main shaft down to 1,554m, with three additional levels planned. Dynatec Mining Ltd. is sinking both shafts. Minnova is doing its own drifting work, with outside contractors performing the drilling. Underground drilling

Another month of underground drilling is involved before a final determination will be made, likely around the end of October, on the amount of reserves, Mr Riverin said. Minnova will spend about $30 million on the Ansil project to reach the production stage, he said.

Mine manager Jean Desrosiers said the company plans to mine 1,500 tons of ore per day, which at the current reserve level would give the Ansil project a 4-year lifespan.

Ore from the Ansil property will be shipped to the nearby Norbec mill for concentrating, with the copper concentrates then making a short trip to the Horne smelter at Rouyn-Noranda and the zinc concentrates being transpor ted southward to Valleyfield, Que.

Minnova, which was formerly called Corp. Falconbridge Copper and whose production history goes back to 1954, is currently controlled by Kerr Addison Mines, which in turn is controlled by Noranda Inc. Over the years the company has successfully mined three copper deposits — the Norbec, Millenbach and Corbet — in the same area as the Ansil property. Of the four deposits, Ansil is the deepest.

The Norbec mill, Mr Riverin said, was built in 1961 and was expected to last five years. It is currently being used to mill ore from the Mobrun gold project being operated by Audrey Resources. In addition to making work for the mill, the agreement with Audrey is keeping the staff in place and is providing Minnova with cash flow. Minnova has a 30% non-participating interest in the Mobrun mine.

The Ansil project originally got off the ground in 1982. Plans were then temporarily shelved before exploration work was picked up again in 1984. A series of 12 drill holes ranging in depth from 1,200m to 1,500 m first intersected the ore deposit. Exploration continues

With the Ansil mine expected to be good only until 1992, Minnova has already started to explore for more area orebodies, Mr Riverin said. “We’ve given priority to massive sulphides to keep that mill running,” he said, pointing to the old Norbec facility which is located about five km west of the Ansil property. He added that Minnova does mine deposits other than massive sulphides.

In addition to Ansil, Minnova is currently active in exploring and developing a pair of major mining projects, the Winston Lake zinc property located in northern Ontario near Schreiber and the polymetallic Samatosum deposit at Adams Lake, B.C., in which Minnova has a 70% interest. The Winston Lake project is expected to be in production in 1988.

And Minnova is no small gold producer, having turned out 107,000 oz from various properties in 1986, including more than 64,000 oz from its Lac Shortt mine (94.2% interest) in Quebec.

Minnova recently announced the sale of $65 million worth of debentures to a group of investment dealers led by Gordon Capital Corp., with the debentures convertible into Minnova common shares until Sept 30, 2007, at $34.25 per share. The proceeds will be used to help complete development of the Ansil and Winston Lake projects.