Missanabie area could host half a dozen producers

Gold exploration areas in Ontario that have been known for years keep coming up with surprises and the potential for more and better mines.

Hemlo was worked over pretty well before International Corona made the biggest Canadian gold discovery of the 1980s. Timmins continues to be fertile ground for exploration and the Geraldton- Beardmore area is enjoying a rejuvenation after lying quiet for decades.

Another Ontario area that could host half a dozen producers within the next few years lies about 40 miles northeast of Wawa. The east- west trending area goes under several names, but is most commonly referred to by the name of the largest community in the area, Missanabie. Missanabie is accessible by provincial Highway 651.

Gold discovery in the area dates back to 1896.

“Numerous gold occurrences are known yet very few have been tested thoroughly,” say the authors of a paper on the area prepared in late 1986, Malcolm Slack, who is president of Belmoral Mines and Canreos Minerals, and John McCombe, a consulting geologist.

“The recent success at the Kremzar and Magino properties are excellent examples of companies starting with known gold occurrences but no reserves per se and through diligent work proving up orebodies,” they say.

The Kremzar property is a joint venture of Canamax Resources and Kremzar Gold Mines which is 79% owned by Algoma Steel. Since Canamax entered the picture in 1984 as operator, a decline ramp has been put down and reserves of 1.1 million tons grading 0.235 oz gold per ton outlined on the Finan Twp. property about 15 miles west of Missanabie. The Magino property is also in Finan Twp., about a mile and a half southwest of the Kremzar. Muscocho Explorations is the operator and 50% joint venture partner along with McNellen Resources. A decline ramp has been completed to a depth of 200 ft and a crosscut driven 700 ft. Drill-indicated reserves are close to two million tons grading 0.251 oz.

The Slack-McCombe reports says that the known deposits as well as the numerous untested occurrences and favorable geology make the entire area a prime target for exploration.

Even Murray Pezim, the Vancouver-based stock promoter who helped get the Hemlo ball rolling in 1981, is involved in the area. With his usual flare, Mr Pezim dubbed the project “operation Wawa” a few years ago.

Operation Wawa covers 13.5 townships owned by the Algoma Central Railway. Most of the current work is centred on the old Murphy gold mine in Abotossaway Twp. about eight miles southwest of the Magino property.

The project is managed by Mascot Gold Mines, the exploration arm of the International Corona group of companies. Corona has a 9% carried interest in the project. The Pezim companies involved are Galveston Resources, Berle Resources and Tri Basin Resources. The Pezim companies are paying 100% of the exploration costs to gain a 75% carried interest.

Mascot has two drills working on the old Murphy Lake property. Of 12 holes drilled last fall, 10 intersected the targeted vein and nine came up with economic values.

The three Pezim companies have earmarked $2.5 million for the project in 1987 which covers about 300,000 acres. Some $1.5 million has been spent in previous years on the large property.

But the Missanabie area is not just an exploration play. There are three deposits currently being mined: the Renabie mine in Leeson Twp., about 10 miles east of Missanabie, is the largest operation while Canreos and Anglo-Dominion Gold Exploration are extracting ore from properties adjacent to Renabie.

The Renabie mine is operated and 50% owned by Royex Gold Mining of the International Corona group with American Barrick Resources holding the other 50%. It has been in operation off and on since 1941 with more than four million tons being mined at a recovered grade of 0.23 oz.

Renabie, with reserves currently set at just over one million tons grading 0.22 oz, has just completed a $23-million expansion program including the sinking of an internal shaft to access the orebody below the 3,100-ft level and increasing mill capacity to 700 tons per day from 500.

During the year ended Sept 30, Renabie produced 35,000 oz of gold at a direct operating cost of $229(US) per oz. In 1987 the Renabie mine is expected to produce 40,000 oz of gold.

Anglo-Dominion holds the property to the east of the Renabie mine. Anglo is shipping ore to Kidd Creek Mines’ copper smelter in Timmins where it is used as fluxing material. A ramp has been driven to the 150-ft level of the former Nudalama mine on Anglo’s property.

Canreos has a similar agreement with Kidd Creek in conjunction with Anglo. A ramp was put down to the 200-ft level in 1986 on Canreos’ ground and the company now estimates reserves of 500,000 tons grading 0.14 oz.

Between Leeson and Brackin twps., where the Renabie, Canreos and Anglo-Dominion operations are under way, and the Finan Twp. exploration programs of Muscocho and Canamax, there are about 24 miles of tightly staked ground with exploration programs at various stages.

In Jacobson Twp., just east of Finan, Cline Development has one of the most closely-watched land positions. Some 12 claims are optioned to Esso Minerals Canada and another six are optioned to Noranda Exploration. Esso drilled 15 holes in the fall of 1986 and values included some good widths of a respectable grade. The best were 38.8 ft grading 0.139 oz which included a 7.3-ft section grading 0.297 oz, and a 45.5 ft section averaging 0.157 oz including 7.3 ft grading 0.421 oz.

Noranda completed 16 holes in late 1986 and reported anomalous go ld values in all of them over widths ranging from one foot to 45 ft. The most significant was a 10.4-ft intersection grading 0.297 oz. The 45-ft section averaged 0.024 oz.

In Stover, West and Riggs twps., Conquest Yellowknife Resources is at work on several known gold showings, particularly the Pileggi showings in Stover Twp. and the old Camex prospect in Riggs Twp. where 30 examples taken over an average width of 28 inches in trenches along a length of 800 ft had a gold content ranging from 0.01 to 24 oz gold per ton.

In Bruyere Twp., Wrightbar Mines has optioned the Kingswood property and has an exploration program under way.