Exploration ’88 NORANDA

Noranda Inc. is going hunting for base metals this year — not to the total exclusion of precious metals, of course, but enough to mark a major shift in emphasis. Last year, for every $6 spent trying to find gold, only $1 was spent on base metal exploration. This year, the gold-to-base-metal ratio will be 4:3. This is largely the result of Noranda’s increased search for base metal mill feed in eastern Canada, centred around the new Duck Pond discovery in Newfoundland. It’s also looking for base metals in the more established mining camps of Bathurst, N.B.; Matagami, Que.; and Sturgeon Lake, Ont. In 1987, Noranda Exploration (Norex), Noranda Inc. affiliates, and its joint-venture partners spent $88.6 million exploring for base and precious metals. This year, the sum will reach $114.4 million. Of that, Norex and its affiliates will be accountable for $66.2 million.

The overall exploration budget increase of $25.8 million, or 29%, for Noranda and its joint-venture partners, on Noranda-operated projects is the result of four main projects that might be the focus of pre-feasibility studies in 1988. The studies could include declining or shaft-sinking, lateral drifting, engineering, as well as environmental and other baseline studies to determine whether any of the projects can be developed.

The more advanced projects include the Silidor deposit, near Rouyn-Noranda, Que.; the Stratmat/ Heath Boundary zone, near Newcastle, N.B.; the Duck Pond deposit, near Buchans, Nfld.; the Black Pine, south of Snowville, Idaho; and the Tundra Mine zone, at Courageous Lake, N.W.T.

The Duck Pond deposit alone will eat up $15 million, or more than 10%, of the total 1988 exploration expenditures. The work will include engineering studies, definition drilling, and possibly underground exploration. This 60% Noranda-owned property (bp-Selco holds a 40% interest) has drill-indicated reserves of 3.6 million tons grading 3.7% copper, 7.6% zinc, 1.4% lead, 75 g silver per tonne and 1.2 g gold per tonne.

At the Tundra property near Courageous Lake, Canada’s largest undeveloped gold resource, the proposed work program entails shaft-sinking, engineering and environmental studies. Earlier this year, drill-indicated reserves stood at 5.2 million tons grading 0.268 oz gold per ton. However, possible geological reserves have been set at 26.4 million tons grading 0.18 oz gold per ton, based on a grade cutoff of 0.1 oz gold. The deposit is shared between Getty Resources (49%) and Noranda (51%).

Much closer to Noranda’s base of operations in northwestern Quebec is the Silidor, where drilling to date has outlined geological reserves of 4.84 million tons grading 0.187 oz gold per ton. Noranda (55%) and joint-venture partners Cambior Inc. (25%) and Nova-Cogesco Resources (20%) plan to spend $8.9 million in 1988. Work will include sinking a shaft, drifting horizontally and conducting some definition drilling.

At Stratmat/Heath, Noranda and subsidiary Brunswick Mining & Smelting will spend $5.6 million on a decline, bulk samples and definition drilling. Drill-indicated reserves total 1.72 million tons grading 8.2% zinc, 3.5% lead, 0.35% copper, and 41.9 g per ton silver.

Near Snowville, Idaho, Noranda has drilled into a potential heap leach deposit. Drill-indicated reserves at the Black Pine A & B deposits, as they’re known, stand at 5.5 million tons grading 0.049 oz gold per ton. A test heap leach and environmental permits should bring total costs in 1988 to $1.75 million.

In total, Noranda and its partners will spend between $40 million and $50 million on advanced projects. The remainder is earmarked for more grassroots plays. Among them are the Deer Cove, the Stog’er Tight, and Albatross gold showings in Newfoundland; the Half Mile Lake and Stratmat massive sulphides in New Brunswick; the Norita base metal play and the Arntfield gold deposit in Quebec; the Dingman, Nickel Offsets, Windjammer, Cline and Interlake gold plays in Ontario; the Grew Creek gold deposit in the Yukon; and the Todd Creek and Tas gold plays and the Dominion Creek base metal property in British Columbia. Noranda will also be involved in exploration work in Nevada, Montana, and Idaho.

Noranda and its affiliates have 205 full-time exploration people on staff. During the summer field season the number swells to 470, which includes full-time, contract, students and other temporary employees. It has field offices in St. John’s, Nfld.; Bathurst, N.B.; Noranda, Que,; Matagami, Que.; Timmins, Ont.; Thunder Bay, Ont.; Hemlo, Ont.; Winnipeg, Man.; Vancouver, B.C.; Prince George, B.C.; Whitehorse, Y.T.; Denver, Colo.; Rhinelander, Wis.; and Reno, Nev.