Bonterra grows gold resource near mill in Quebec

Bonterra Resources (TSXV: BTR; US-OTC: BONXF) boosted measured and indicated gold resources 42% at the Desmaraisville project’s Bachelor and Moroy deposits in Quebec, making the case to restart mining closer to a mill it owns.

The project-wide estimate outlines 1.78 million tonnes grading 3.98 grams gold per tonne for 228,000 oz. measured and indicated, at the site 770 km north of Montrea, Bonterra said Wednesday . It also has 978,000 tonnes at 4.23 grams for 133,000 inferred ounces.

“Importantly, all mineral resources are located within 900 metres of the Bachelor mill complex, offering a strategic opportunity to advance the restart of mining operations by leveraging already permitted infrastructure,” Bonterra President and CEO Marc-André Pelletier said in a statement.

The company is to start drilling at Desmaraisville soon to continue testing high-potential targets. The update builds on Bonterra’s October Hewfran extension discovery beside the old Bachelor workings and follows February’s larger resource gain at the nearby Barry and Gladiator, where Gold Fields (NYSE: GFI; JSE: GFI) can earn 70% of the Phoenix joint venture by spending $30 million through November.

On March 23, Florida-based Wexford Capital-backed funds agreed to provide Bonterra a $5 million unsecured credit facility.

Shares were unchanged at 18.5¢ midday on Wednesday in Toronto, valuing Bonterra at about $39.3 million.

Drill story

The Bachelor deposit holds 905,000 tonnes at 3.87 grams for 113,000 oz. measured and indicated, while Moroy adds 875,000 tonnes at 4.1 grams for 115,000 oz. gold.

Bonterra added about 17,800 metres of drilling at Bachelor and Moroy since 2021. It had also cut the underground cut-off grade to 2 grams gold from 2.6 grams, raised the gold price assumption to $2,850 an oz. from $1,600 and increased minimum mining width to 1.75 metres from 1.2 metres. Those changes make the model more mineable and help explain part of the ounce growth.

The Bachelor mill complex, about 250 km northeast of Val-d’Or, is permitted for 800 tonnes per day and has seen more than $100 million (conversion with US$ or C$ as appropriate) in investments. It sits on a mining lease that allows extraction of up to 1.2 million tonnes of ore.

The old Bachelor mine produced 350,000 oz. gold between 1982 and 1989 and the company says the mill is the only one in the Urban-Barry camp with tailings capacity.