Aur plans 2 shafts at Louvicourt, surface drilling continues

Out of the news lately but still busy, the partnership of Aur Resources (TSE) and Societe Miniere Louvem (TSE) is moving fast toward the critical development stage at its Louvicourt Twp. base metal joint venture east of Val d’Or, Que. Under the watchful eye of Noranda Minerals, a unit of Noranda (TSE) which now owns 22.7% of Louvem, work crews are currently drilling pilot holes for two shafts that will eventually provide access to a 29-million-ton copper-zinc-rich massive sulphide deposit.

Operator Aur, now a 21%-owned affiliate of Teck Corp. (TSE) and Cominco (TSE), expects shaft collaring to begin this month, after a $4.9-million surface drill is complete.

When The Northern Miner spoke to Aur Vice-President Howard Stockford at the company’s new corporate offices in downtown Toronto recently, there were five drills on the Louvicourt property. Two rigs were working on pilot holes while the other three were focusing on targets outside the main deposit.

Now that the legal skirmish with Louvem is settled and the main deposit outlined, Stockford and Aur President Jim Gill say investors are no longer getting a hole-by-hole analysis of the progress at Louvicourt Twp.

But Stockford expects to have a feasibility study containing full de-tails of the mine plan by late spring and management will then start the serious business of raising $180-$270 million to cover capital costs.

Based on information obtained from 70 drill holes, Stockford doesn’t expect to have any problem persuading potential lenders to help finance a mine capable of operating at 5,000-6,000 tons per day for at least 15 years.

Using a 2% cut off grade, undiluted geological reserves now stand at 29 million tons grading 4.3% copper, 1.8% zinc, 0.74 oz. silver and 0.03 oz. gold per ton. If the cutoff drops to 1%, geological tonnage climbs to 37.1 million.

“From what we know so far, this is not a marginal deposit,” said Stockford, who is quick to show a visiting reporter a section of drill core that is one of the show pieces at the company’s headquarters. Part of the contents of a fill-in hole drilled for metallurgical purposes, it averaged 13% copper, 0.2 oz. gold and 5.7% zinc over 90 ft.

To keep an eye on all of the Louvicourt activity, Stockford pays bi-monthly visits to Val d’Or where Bob Bryce, Aur’s new vice-president of mining operations, is hiring a team to build and operate the mine.

He describes Bryce as a “highly competent mining engineer who built the Selbaie copper-zinc mine from scratch.” But sources in the Noranda camp say they hope Bryce will not take too much of the responsibility for mine construction upon himself. “He needs to hire a good construction person,” said one source.

Under an agreement with Louvem and its parent company, St. Genevieve Resources (TSE), Noranda has assumed Louvem’s responsibilities on a project management committee consisting of two nominees from Aur and two from Louvem.

Sitting with Stockford and Gill on the committee are Lance Tigert, Noranda’s vice-president of finance, and Glen Curtis, Noranda’s vice-president of engineering.

As Aur and Louvem have over $25 million and $11 million respectively in their treasuries, both are well equipped to handle their share of development costs that should add up to roughly $17 million in fiscal 1991. Aur is responsible for 55% of that amount and Louvem 45%, reflecting their interest in the project.