PATRIOT BATTERY METALS PUTS OUT INITIAL RESOURCE FOR CORVETTE PROJECT / 2 Geotech_Earlug_2016_Alt2.pdf 1 2016-06-24 4:27:20 PM
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Hudbay’s Snow Lake discovery could stretch mine life past 2038 | Base metal, copper-gold discoveries hint at Lalor mine potential MANITOBA
T AurMac project manager James Thom shows a core sample, alongside Banyan Gold CEO Tara Christie at the Aurmac gold project, about 360 km north of Whitehorse, in Yukon territory. VICTORIA GOLD — BANYAN GOLD
Yukon gold duo McConnell and Christie helm Victoria, Banyan in surging Tombstone belt SITE VISIT
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| ‘20-million-oz region’ hosts several gold players
BY COLIN MCCLELLAND
ohn McConnell and Tara Christie are the Yukon mining power couple. The husband and wife are both presidents and CEOs of Victoria Gold (TSX: VGCX) and Banyan Gold (TSXV: BYN; USOTC: BYAGF), respectively. Victoria has the territory’s only producing open-pit gold mine, the heap-leach Eagle mine about 275 km east of Dawson City, which posted record first-half output this year. Banyan’s Aurmac project, about 40 km from Eagle, has 312.9 million tonnes grading 0.7 gram gold per tonne for 6.2 million inferred oz., according to a resource update in May. Both sites are part of the Tombstone Gold Belt that arcs across the Yukon including projects held by investor darling Snowline Gold (TSXV: SGD) in the east through Sitka Gold (CSE: SIG) to Kinross Gold’s (TSX: K; NYSE: KGC) Fort Knox mine near Fairbanks, Alaska in the west. “If you were to draw a 50-km circle around us, the area would already have 20 million ounces in gold-equivalent resources, which is pretty, pretty exciting,” Christie said in an interview with The Northern Miner during site tours on July 20.
A gold bar at the Eagle mine. VICTORIA GOLD
“It’s tough to explore in the Yukon because the exploration season is short,” McConnell said in a separate interview. “But the opportunity is that the Yukon is very under-explored.” The two are long-time northerners steeped in mining culture. British Columbia native McConnell has been in the business for more than 40 years across the north for companies such as De Beers, Western Keltic Mines and Breakwater Resources. He’s held the Victoria Gold posts since 2010. Panning pro Christie spent summers in the Yukon from age seven. The youngster and her slightly older brother once panned 16 oz. of gold in a season. She later became a geotechnical engineer and geologist, ran
a private placer gold mining company, worked a spell at Newmont (TSX: NGT; NYSE: NEM) in the North and started a consultancy. Now she’s running Banyan with its 173-sq.-km Aurmac property. It has three inferred-level deposits, Powerline with 3.4 million oz., Aurex Hill with 1.4 million oz. and Airstrip with 897,000 oz. on moderate topography connected to hydro and a highway that goes to Hecla Mining’s (NYSE: HL) Keno Hill silver operation next door. Banyan is considering how the project could be developed, likely around the same $500-million capital cost as Victoria’s Eagle. If it stays unacquired that long, Christie says. “There’s about a 25% chance that Banyan is bought by either Hecla or Victoria Gold, it’s a 25% chance somebody will buy it as a standalone and that’s based on incoming interest. And there’s a 25% chance that somebody will come in and buy Victoria and us.” Snowline spotlight Chances of going it alone are just 5%, she says. But, like other junior miners in the region with a strong resource and drill results such as Sitka Gold, Banyan faces a tough See TOMBSTONE / 9
BY HENRY LAZENBY
he first discovery in a decade at Hudbay Minerals’ (TSX: HBM; NYSE: HBM) Lalor mine in Snow Lake, Man., has given it a run at finding another anchor deposit to extend the life of its operations beyond 2038. The company’s winter drilling program had uncovered a trove of new mineralized zones, Hudbay said in a June news release. One drill rig exploring a geophysical anomaly northwest of Lalor has yielded strong results outlining a series of base metal and copper-gold zones, including a highgrade copper-gold-silver zone. The find indicates the potential to enhance near-term production and significantly extend the mine’s life. “In our first step-out and down-plunge drill program since the initial discovery of the gold and copper-gold lenses at Lalor more than a decade ago, the results demonstrate the potential to replicate our exploration success through the discovery of additional high-grade zones that could enhance near-term production and further extend mine life,” the company’s president and CEO Peter Kukielski said in the release. The drill program focused on testing a geophysical anomaly about 500 meters northwest of the existing underground infrastructure. This targeted exploration successfully intersected a series of base metal and copper-gold zones. Among the notable Snow Lake-area holes was hole CH2302 which intersected three mineralized zones, including 7 metres of 3% zinc and 15.1 grams silver per tonne; 3.5 metres of 3.8% copper, 3.75 grams gold per tonne and 104.5 grams silver per tonne; and 7.5 metres of 3.9% zinc and 7.5 grams silver, leaving industry experts buzzing with excitement. According to Hudbay, silver, the most mobile metal in a volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) system, is often an indicator of nearby significant base metal mineralization. This presence of abundant silver in isolation from other metals suggests the immediate proximity of more substantial mineralization. That raises expectations for further discoveries of base and precious
ALLKEM MORE THAN DOUBLES LITHIUM RESOURCE IN JAMES BAY / 3
metals in the area. Moreover, recent borehole electromagnetic surveys have identified multiple conductive horizons in the vicinity. Hudbay is already at work, generating targets and formulating plans for future drilling campaigns. The proximity of these mineralized intersections to the existing Lalor underground infrastructure provides an opportunity to enhance the near-term mine plan for Lalor. The potential extension of production and the discovery of new high-grade zones could significantly increase the mine’s output and profitability. Cook Lake acquisitions Amid the Lalor discovery, Hudbay also solidified its position in the region through strategic land acquisitions. The agreements with multiple landholders have increased the company’s holdings in the Snow Lake area by more than 250%, securing an extensive See SNOW LAKE / 16 PM40069240