THUNDER BAY – The opportunity presented by the Ring of Fire in Northern Ontario is vast. A billion dollar investment is planned for the James Bay Region.
MacDonald Mines Exploration Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:BMK) has provided an exploration update on its efforts in the mineral-rich Ring of Fire region of the James Bay Lowlands.
Exploration impetus in the western James Bay area took a dramatic upturn in 2010 when Cliffs Natural Resources purchased Freewest’s and Spider’s interest in a world-class chrome deposit for $248 million and signaled a billion dollar plus investment in James Bay.
This was validated further by the Ontario Provincial Government, which publically identified the mining potential of James Bay as “World Class” and highlighted the mining opportunities as key for Ontario.
Cliffs Natural Resources recently announced its 2012 capital expenditure projection for the chrome project to be $2.25 billion.
MacDonald began exploring in the Ring of Fire starting in 2003, shortly after the first volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) discovery at McFaulds Lake by Spider Resources and KWG Resources. The McFaulds VMS discovery is characterized by very high-grade intersections of VMS mineralization (McF-04-57 intersected 18.8 meters of 8.02% Copper (Cu), Mc-03-18 averaged 4.83% Zinc (Zn) over 25.75 meters) and at 250 meter-plus depths.
Discoveries
In addition to the McFaulds VMS discovery, the Ring of Fire has two additional discoveries, the Noront Resources’ Eagle 1 nickel (Ni) and platinum group elements (PGE) discovery in August 2007, with a National Instrument (NI) 43-101 indicated resource of 6.9 million tonnes (Mt) averaging 2.04% Ni, 0.95% Cu, 1.30 g/t platinum (Pt) and 3.40 g/t palladium (Pd) and an inferred resource of 4.3 Mt averaging 1.42% Ni, 0.87% Cu, 0.80 g/t Pt and 3.40 g/t Pd. This was followed in 2009 by Freewest Resources’ Black Thor chromite discovery, containing an NI 43-101 inferred resource of 69.6 Mt @ 31.9% Cr2O3.
These discoveries have confirmed that the Ring of Fire region of the James Bay Lowlands is mineral-rich in copper, zinc, nickel, PGEs, vanadium, gold and chrome and this environment provides the potential opportunity for future discoveries.
Exploration impetus in the western James Bay area took a dramatic upturn in 2010 when Cliffs Natural Resources purchased Freewest’s and Spider’s interest in a world-class chrome deposit for $248 million and signaled a billion dollar plus investment in James Bay. This was validated further by the Ontario Provincial Government, which publically identified the mining potential of James Bay as “World Class” and highlighted the mining opportunities as key for Ontario. Cliffs Natural Resources recently announced its 2012 capital expenditure projection for the chrome project to be $2.25 billion.
MacDonald is the second largest landholder in the Ring of Fire and has a proven track record of environmentally and socially responsible exploration practices. The Company’s established rapport with First Nation Communities in this region culminated in the signing of exploration agreements with the Kasabonika Lake, Webequie and Summer Beaver First Nations.
Exploration Overview – Butler Project – Geophysics, Diamond Drill Holes & Chemical Analysis: Exploration in the James Bay Lowlands is challenging due to the area being almost entirely a wetland. As a result, there is minimal outcrop, helicopter support is required and exploration time lines are longer. Over $18 million dollars has been spent to date on the Butler property and we have discovered six zones of multi-element mineralization with copper-zinc VMS systems, vandiferous titano-magnetite and magmatic nickel sulphide. This was accomplished through comprehensive exploration programs including geophysics, diamond drill holes and geochemistry.
