PROFILE Boivin hitches La Sarre’s fortune to meteorite hit

About 300 km north of Baie Comeau, Que., lies the Manicouagan basin, which shows good potential for base metal mineralization. Earlier this year, La Sarre Mining Exploration acquired 216 claims in the area. Since then, the company’s exploration program has generated considerable interest in the public, especially among scientists. The basin is believed by some to be the impact site of a meteorite that wiped out most of the earth’s land-based dinosaurs and more than 70% marine species 210 million years ago, says Exploration Vice-President Lauri Boivin, 34, in an interview with The Northern Miner. She has been invited to appear on CBC television network’s Ce Soir Plus, which plans to air a 4 1/2-minute prime time report from coast to coast on the Manicouagan project.

To her two young children, Boivin is an adventurer, who ventures into the bush to look for a “fallen star.” They dub her “a cowboy.”

As well, Boivin is vice-president of both Bonanza Metals and Normetal Mining Exploration. Bonanza is trying to raise $14 million to reopen the past- producing Poirier base metal mine in northern Quebec. And Normetal has launched a major exploration program, funded by Cominco Resources, to hunt for new base metal deposits in the Normetal camp, north of La Sarre, Que.

The numerous activities of La Sarre, Bonanza and Normetal — three affiliated juniors — reflect Boivin’s philosophy. “When I see a beautiful opportunity, I cannot just stand there and let it pass,” she says. “One must be action-oriented, hit a few rocks and shake a few money trees before anything happens.”

The trio’s acquisition pro0600,0000 grams involve high-potential base metal properties with proven reserves or high profile projects, says 9.50Boivin. “I believe in base metals be cause the demand for them will be strong with the expansion of the East European economy and the Pacific economies. They will need base metals to build transportation networks, offices and cities.”

Born in Ottawa, Ont., and raised in the Eastern Twps. in Quebec, Boivin graduated from Concordia University in Montreal, Que., with a B.Sc. in geology in 1981. She met her husband, Maurice Rive, in the bush. He is a resident geologist with the Ministere de l’Energie et des Ressources. At home, she makes clothes for herself and her children.

Boivin has always been self- employed. In the early 1980s, few women were hired by mining companies, she says. Since 1985, however, about 50% of the university graduates in geology in Quebec have been women. It so happens that at present the full-time technical staff members at her three companies are all women.