Producing mines, exploration help boost economy of N.W.T.

What the Northwest Territories lack in people is more than made up for in size and abundance of natural resources. The sparcely- populated territories, claiming some 34% of Canada’s land mass, played no small part in the country’s early fur-trade industry; in 1988, it is other resources, including mining, which fuel the economy of this region.

Complementing today’s producing mines such as Echo Bay’s Lupin and Giant Yellowknife’s Giant is an active exploration program involving a host of junior (and some senior) companies searching mainly for the yellow metal. One of the more attention-grabbing exploration projects is the Tundra prospect involving junior Getty Resources and major Noranda Inc.

While the Getty (49% interest) and Noranda (51% interest) joint venture has been active at Courageous Lake, about 125 miles northeast of Yellowknife, since 1979, exploration in the area dates back 50 years. Current possible geological reserves at the property stand at 26.4 million tons grading 0.18 oz gold per ton, making it perhaps the largest undeveloped gold deposit in Canada.

Planned for 1988 is the start of a 2-year, $25-million underground exploration program at the property. Getty, pursued last year by Bow Va lley Industries, recently acquired a new owner in Total Resources (Canada). Lupin contribution

Echo Bay, aiming for a production total of 700,000 oz gold from all of its properties by the end of 1989, has a consistent winner in the Lupin mine, which is contributing 190,000 oz annually to the company’s output. Located 56 miles south of the Arctic Circle, the Lupin has been in production since 1982. The company recently deepened the shaft on the property to 2,550 ft from 1,210 ft. The Lupin is an excellent example of what a mining company faces in northern climes, what with the mine completely dependent on air transportation and its winter ice road.

Giant Yellowknife (controlled by Pamour Inc.) was forced last year to close its Salmita mine, but remains active at its Giant project and plans to bring into production this May a tailings re-treatment project at Yellowknife, N.W.T. It has been proposed that the treatment plant should be operated during the warmer months only.

The average grade of the tailings is 0.067 oz, although some pockets of the tailings grade up to 0.114 oz. Tests indicate recoveries of 40% after 48 hours of leaching. The gold will be recovered using a carbon-in- leach system. The estimated cost of the project is $25.5 million. Vat-leaching operation

One of the more innovative projects proposed for the Northwest Territories is Neptune Resources’ Colomac at Indin Lake, where a vat leaching operation is to be used to extract gold. A May, 1989, start- up date is planned.

Neptune, which is earning a 60% interest in the low grade Colomac gold property from Johnsby Mines, has completed a feasibility study. Proposed is a 10,000-ton-per-day open pit operation costing an estimated $83 million. Reserves stand at 16 million tons grading 0.064 oz.

Among the more active juniors in the territories is Aber Resources, and one of its promising properties is the Butterfly Lake project, 15 miles southeast of the Lupin mine. Drilling at the property intersected a sulphide iron formation, similar to what occurs on the Lupin property, along a 1,300-ft strike length. Aber’s partners in the joint-venture are Cominco Ltd. and Cogema Canada, who may each earn a 35% interest, and Highwood Resources, with a 15.3% working interest.

Another property Aber is exploring, along with partner Hemisphere Development, is the Sunrise Lake (formerly Sunset Lake) prospect, about 70 miles northeast of Yellowknife. A drilling program representing 5,000 ft and completed before the end of last year, indicated a polymetallic deposit containing zinc, lead, silver, gold and copper values. Bioleach test

Strange but true, a bioleaching experiment was undertaken last year at Giant Yellowknife’s Salmita mine to prove the commercial viability of the bio-technological process. A mining consulting firm in Vancouver, Wright Engineers, and Giant Bay Resources have teamed up to promote their alternate treatment for refractory gold ores. In the Salmita experiment, 311 oz gold were recovered using a 10-ton-per- day pilot plant; the bacterial leaching followed by cyanidation resulted in 95.6% recovery.

Hoping for a profitable return on its investments in the Northwest Territories is Durga Resources, which recently signed a letter of intent to purchase the Camsell River area property interests of Terra Mines. The Camsell holdings include a silver deposit with reserves of 30,610 tons averaging 30 oz silver per ton and 500,000 tons of tailings with nickel and copper values.

A small gold producer since September, 1986, from its Tom claims, is Treminco Resources, which is hoping its Ptarmigan property, situated near the Tom mine, will produce much bigger results. Ore from the Tom and Ptarmigan properties is being processed at the nearby Giant Yellowkife mill; the company eventually hopes to be able to install its own mill in the vicinity of the Tom mine. Drilling program

Participating in a drilling program with Argus Resources on gold property north of Yellowknife is Tandem Resources, which, by funding exploration work, will be able to earn an equity position in the former. Argus last year uncovered a promising new sulphide zone on the property.

Exploration work in the Northwest Territories isn’t all focused on the recovery of precious and the major base metals. The above- mentioned Highwood, for example, has high hopes for its Thor Lake property, 65 miles southeast of Yellowknife, which contains amounts of beryllium, yttrium, rare earths, niobium and gallium, which have application in the high-tech industries. To help develop the property, Highwood has signed an agreement with Hecla Mining which would allow Hecla to earn a 50% interest in the project.