The Abitibi is one of the world’s premier gold camps. Whether it is deep beneath an old mine or a fresh look at a former exploration site, the Abitibi offers tremendous opportunities for creative gold explorers. A fact which Steve Roebuck, CEO of Enforcer Gold (V.VEIN), is fully aware of.
Last year Enforcer began work at its Montalembert project, 230 km northeast of Val d’Or and 125 km due west of Chibougamau in the Province of Quebec. It announced the results of this work, which included both drilling and channel sampling as well as a high-resolution aeromagnetic VLF-EM survey flown over the entire 7300-hectare property and a 45 line-kilometre induced polarization survey completed over the main vein occurrences.
High-grade intercepts and exposed visible gold were present in the drill cores and the sawn channels. In the release reporting the years’ work, Robuck stated, “The No. 2 vein is an impressive and well mineralized geological structure that is open along strike and at depth. We expect to continue drill testing on the No. 2 vein in 2018 and are considering a bulk sampling program to obtain a better representation of the gold mineralization at surface. Follow-up on new targets generated this year will also be a priority in the 2018 exploration program.” The results were sufficiently encouraging that Enforcer extended its land position at the Montalembert project by 19,352 hectares bringing its total holding to 26,645 hectares.
One of the paradoxes of the junior exploration space is that while one project can keep a company very busy, having two or more projects may be a more effective use of resources.
“I was looking for a second project,” said Roebuck. “A property came up that offered the potential to move very quickly toward a bulk-tonnage mining opportunity. It was a project we could quickly move up the value chain.”
On January 11, 2018 Enforcer announced it had entered into an option and joint venture agreement with SOQUEM Inc., the mineral exploration arm of the Quebec government, for the Roger property located just five kilometers from Chibougamau, Quebec.
In the press release Roebuck commented, “We are very pleased to have the opportunity to earn 50% in the advanced-stage Roger gold-copper porphyry property and to be working with a stable partner in SOQUEM. Roger comes with a substantial database with over 54,906 m of diamond drilling and 1,177 m of underground development and a historical resource estimate. Our plan is to quickly advance the project through additional drilling to bring it to a current mineral resource status. SOQUEM has been involved with the property since 1997 and thus brings extensive knowledge and continuity to the project going forward. We are excited to add to our Quebec project base and to be working in one of Quebec’s underexplored gold districts.”
Roebuck saw the Roger property as fitting well with Enforcer’s plans. “It is in the right jurisdiction, Quebec. It is very close to Chibougamau. There is a powerline that crosses the property and there are 55,000 meters of drilling already completed,” said Roebuck.
At the same time, fresh eyes were needed. “Prior explorers were looking at a typical narrow vein underground mining scenario on the property’s Mop-II deposit,” said Roebuck. “However, the database includes many significant long intercepts such as 55 meters grading 1.2 gpt. Mineralization has been intersected from near surface to 330 meters vertical depth and is still open. Plus, there were some sections of the deposit which had never been drilled.”
The Mop-II deposit has a 2006 NI 43-101 inferred resource estimate. “It was small tonnage, only 3.2 million tons containing 167,200 ounces of gold. However, the estimate was prepared when gold was only $500 an ounce,” said Roebuck “and SOQUEM has completed over 15,000 m of drilling since the 2006 estimate was completed.
“We want to build up the tonnage considerably and verify the existing data through the twinning of some historical holes. We see considerable room to expand the resource especially when giving it a fresh look as a large-volume and lower-grade bulk-mining opportunity” said Roebuck.
Reimagining the Roger property also involves reconsidering the mine plan. “We want to add ounces and relax the cutoff to reflect the current price of gold,” said Roebuck. “And, yes this could be an open pit rather than an underground mine. We expect to receive drilling results over the next 4-6 weeks and once complied we will initiate the new resource estimate.”
With two projects in hand, Enforcer needed a VP exploration. On March 1, 2018 Antoine Fournier, a highly experienced geologist and mining executive came on board. “Antoine is based in Val d’Or. He knows everyone and he knows the Abitibi,” said Roebuck.
Roebuck expects a solid news flow from Enforcer’s two projects from now until late fall. “At Montalembert everything we’re doing is near surface. We’re trying to get a good handle on the first two hundred meters,” said Roebuck. “At Roger we have an exceptional opportunity to put a fresh look on an existing deposit at a much higher gold price than prevailed when former operators explored the property.”
On both properties the objective is to outline sizeable resources. “The majors like bigger deposits,” said Roebuck, “so we’re aiming for a million-ounce threshold.” For our shareholders the security is in the assets and our share price will be driven by results. Watch for our upcoming press releases and an updated resource estimate on our new Roger project by early fall 2018.”