Vancouver — The delayed technical report on
The study, completed by engineering firm Roscoe Postle Associates (RPA), reviewed a limited indicated resource of just over 19,000 tonnes grading 10.6 grams gold per tonne (about 6,500 contained ounces).
RPA concluded that the resource was insufficient to support a commercial operation and that expansion potential was limited following extensive drilling along strike and at depth.
The latest calculation shows a 33% drop from the mid-2004 resource estimate of 28,400 tonnes grading 9.3 grams gold.
With aspirations of putting the project into production, Foran spent about $1.5 million on milling equipment over the previous year and had been building on-site. Foran halted its efforts earlier this year to wait for the revised National Instrument 43-101 report from RPA. In the meantime, the company paid $115,000 to Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting for rights, title and interest to the rail bed that leads to North Star.
The project has undergone numerous rounds of exploration since the 1920s, including a small underground sampling program in the early-1930s extracting about 150 kg of mineralized material, which averaged 19.5 grams gold, from a 4-metre “shaft.”
North Star is situated within the Flin Flon greenstone belt of northern Manitoba with gold mineralization associated with quartz vein systems over thicknesses of up to 4 metres. Foran acquired its option on North Star in 2002.
In other news, the company received results from a geophysical survey on its Kaskattama diamond project in northeastern Manitoba. Data from more than 5,000 line-km of airborne work “failed to identify” a viable diatreme-type anomaly which might be caused by a kimberlite body at shallow depth.
Meanwhile, the company recently filed a Statement of Claim against former director Stephen Masson, alleging a breach of fiduciary duties including: diverting corporate opportunities away from Foran, using his company M’Ore Exploration Services to misappropriate funds from Foran, and staking claims adjacent to Foran properties.
Since the Spring, shares of Foran have plummeted from the 40 level to the current 8-9 range.
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