Bachelor Lake to spend $2m after securing Flordin bet

After securing Cambior Inc.’s (TSE) 51% stake in the Flordin gold property in Desjardins Twp., Que., Bachelor Lake Gold Mines (TSE) is preparing to raise $2 million for exploration at the project.

Located about 40 miles from Bachelor Lake’s 500 ton-per-day mill, the Flordin property could fill vacant capacity at the facility if the exploration drive is successful.

In a 51%/49% joint venture with Cambior, Bachelor Lake has already outlined two mineralized zones — the Main and Cartwright. The focus of most of the joint venture’s recent efforts, the Main zone hosts 898,943 tons of grade 0.148 oz gold per ton in four veins.

But Bachelor Lake will extend a ramp from the 150 ft to the 275-ft level before conducting additional underground drilling.

“By testing for grade continuity over vein widths, we will get a better idea of the viability of the grades,” Bachelor Lake spokesman Neil Steenberg told The Northern Miner.

A second Cartwright zone is located about a mile east of the Main zone. It hosts an additional 91,381 tons of grade 0.305 oz in an area which was developed during the 1940s and could be accessed through an existing shaft.

While Steenberg said Cambior considers the property too small for its own purposes, the Quebec company retains a $3 per tonne royalty interest. If Bachelor Lake fails to elicit a production decision within five years, a 51% interest in the Main and Cartwright zones is returned to Cambior.

Bachelor Lake will raise the flow- through dollars needed to finance the Flordin exploration program through a Vancouver-listed shell company called Western Premium Resource Corp. (VSE).

Under the terms of a recent takeover agreement, Bachelor Lake will acquire 750,000 escrowed Western Premium shares representing a 41.2% interest.

In a separate transaction, Western Premium will acquire Bachelor Lake’s interest in Flordin by purchasing 15.8 million shares of the latter company’s Quebec subsidiary Northwest Gold Mines for $5.3 million.