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Weekly UpdatesExploration and mining activity may be down across the North, but millions are still being spent in the Kirkland Lake area in the hopes of capitalizing on the wealth of gold lying beneath the land.
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"It's not all doom and gloom the way some people are saying," says Gary Grabowski, acting regional resident geologist for the Kirkland Lake district.
"The price of gold keeps Kirkland Lake going."
Much work is being done to advance the future potential which lies in the Kirkland Lake district, including some currently underway by Northgate Minerals. The company has been toiling away on its Young-Davidson property, located 60 kilometres west of Kirkland Lake, where it will spend $8.6 million through 2009.
The company spent $21 million on exploration through 2008, which has helped to double the underground measured and indicated resources as revealed in its recently completed industry-compliant resource estimate.
These resources have now reached 3 million ounces of gold at an average grade of 3.6 grams per tonne (g/t), while inferred resources have also doubled to 748,000 ounces at an average grade of 3.39 g/t.
Currently, permitting is being sought in the hopes of bringing the site into production by 2011.
With its McGarry project located 40 kilometres east of Kirkland Lake, Armistice Resources is currently conducting test work to determine the best options for processing gold recovered from its site.
Efforts are also underway to log and sample exploration holes which were collected around the 2250 level throughout 2007 and 2008.
Also operating east of Kirkland Lake is Bear Lake Gold, which represents the recent merger of Maximus Ventures Ltd. and NFX Gold Ltd., who are working on the Larder Lake Project.
The completion of a 43,000-metre drill program continues, with $2.7 million expected to be spent on a first phase of exploration. A total of 11,000 metres is being targeted, with one drill defining and expanding its Bear Lake Zone, while a second will examine other targets along the Cadillac-Larder Lake break.
Queenston Mining Inc. is also hard at work in the Kirkland Lake camp as it seeks to actively advance its four gold deposits, the McBean, Anoki, Upper Beaver, and Upper Canada properties, into production. With $16 million in working capital, Queenston has four drills currently turning to develop new resources and firm up old ones.
"We're feeling pretty confident about what we're seeing out there," says president Charles Page. "The results are positive and we're in there for the long haul."
Though already a producer, nearby Kirkland Lake Gold is moving ahead with big developments with its flagship Macassa Mine property.
In the coming weeks, a zone known as the South Mine Complex will be mined at a rate of 400 tons per day, increasing the company's annual production to more than 100,000 ounces per year. This will increase to 700 tons per day as early as March 2009 as contractor J.S. Redpath completes related infrastructure.
www.northgateminerals.com
www.armistice.ca
www.bearlakegold.com
www.queenston.ca
www.klgold.com
By NICK STEWART
Northern Ontario Business
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