Canadian Royalties and Osisko Exploration have been recognized by the Quebec Mineral Exploration Association for achievements in advancing projects and new discoveries. Canadian Royalties has been named Quebec Entrepreneur of the Year 2006 at the Annual Conference of the Quebec Mineral Exploration Association. This award recognizes Canadian Royalties’ achievements in advancing its Raglan South nickel project. Over a period of six exploration seasons, which are four months long, the company has completed a positive scoping study of the project and is currently proceeding with permitting applications, a bankable feasibility study, which is due in the second quarter of 2007, and an environmental and social impact analysis.
Canadian Royalties’ progress with Raglan South is clearly related to the favourable exploration conditions in Quebec. As a Quebec-based corporation with its main asset in Quebec, Canadian Royalties anticipates continued government support for its further exploration as well as for the permitting, construction and development of the RSNP to production. The company anticipates that the project has the potential to create a significant number of jobs during the construction period and some 250 direct employment positions once in production.
The Raglan project was initiated in the spring of 2001 with the optioning of the Expo-Ungava property from Ungava Minerals. Canadian Royalties’ first exploration season in 2001 resulted in the discovery of the TK nickel-copper-platinum-palladium deposit, which was followed by the discovery of the large, well-mineralized Mesamax deposit in the summer of 2002 and the Mequillon deposit in the summer of 2003, both nickel-copper-platinum-palladium deposits. With the addition of the Expo deposit resources, total indicated resources on Raglan South have increased by 73% to over 10.5 Mt.
Osisko Exploration was honoured at the award ceremony with the prestigious Prospector of the Year award. The prize is awarded annually to underline the importance of a new discovery which has a significant impact on exploration activity on the property and surrounding region. Michael Gray, Senior Mining Analyst at Pacific International Securities of Vancouver, wrote in a research note, “We view the Prospector of the Year award to Osisko as a key technical and financial acknowledgement of the Osisko management team’s success on the Canadian Malartic gold project. It also provides another validation that the Canadian Malartic gold district is undergoing a renaissance, led by Osisko as it pursues bulk mineable gold deposits and targets in a historic underground mining camp.”
The Malartic property, located in the heart of Quebec’s Abitibi gold belt, immediately south of the town of Malartic, some 20 km west of the town Val d’Or. The property (104 claims and one mining concession with a total surface area of 4,442 ha) includes the former underground Canadian Malartic mine, which poured over 1 Moz of gold between the years 1935 – 1965 from ore grading 3 to 6 g/t Au. Between 1935 and 1983, production in the Malartic camp totalled over 5 Moz from the Canadian Malartic, Barnat-Sladen and East Malartic mines.
Osisko acquired a 100% interest in the Canadian Malartic property in November 2004 and initiated, in January 2005, a detailed compilation of the extensive historical database, including data from over 5,000 surface and underground drillholes. Osisko commenced its drilling programme on the property in March 2005.
The deposit is an Archean porphyry gold system, consisting of a widespread shell of disseminated gold and pyrite mineralization hosted by diorite porphyry and altered metasediments. Drilling and compilation work has outlined a gold mineralized system measuring 1,400 x 350 m, with a variable true thickness ranging from 40 to 270 m to a vertical depth of 320 m from surface. The average grade of the deposit is estimated to lie between 1 and 1.35 g/t Au, yielding a potential resource of about 3 to 4 Moz. Osisko will maintain the current drill programme on the property with the objective of calculating and releasing a NI 43-101 compliant inferred gold resource by the last quarter 2006 and an indicated resource in early 2007.