Abitibi Greenstone Belt – Page 8

Oban Mining Corporation: The New Osisko Bigger and Better?

December 2, 2015December 2, 2015

Film Produced by Ivor Barr, Director and Executive Producer of IDNR-TV Natural Resources Television

http://www.obanmining.com/

Oban Mining CEO & Director John F. Burzynski was one of the three partners who successfully developed the Osisko Mine in Quebec’s Malartic-Cadillac region, part of the lengendary Abitibi-Greenstone belt which is shared between Northeastern Ontario and Northwestern Quebec. It is considered on of the top gold discoveries of the past decade.

The other two partners in the Osisko Mine are Sean Roosen and Robert Wares – both of whom are on Oban Mining’s Board of Directors. The three are well known in Canada’s mining sector, winning the prestigious 2007 PDAC Bill Dennis Prospector of the Year Award:

Green light for Goldfields to start up Taylor mine – by Alan S. Hale (Timmins Daily Press – November 11, 2015)

November 11, 2015

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

BLACK RIVER-MATHESON – St. Andrew Goldfields has received approval from the provincial government to begin commercial production at the Taylor Mine, located 53 kilometres east of Timmins.

The project’s closure plan received final approval from the mining project from the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines last week.

“We are pleased to declare Taylor the newest mine in Ontario, one which we anticipate will bolster the company’s gold production profile for 2016 by 40,000 to 50,000 ounces and provide much-needed jobs and economic benefits to the communities of the region,” said Duncan Middlemiss, the president and chief executive officer of St. Andrew Goldfields in a statement.

“The mine is expected to be a significant contributor in the future as we are ramping up to full production by the end of this year.”

Oban Mining to pick up Northern Gold (Northern Miner – November 9, 2015)

November 10, 2015

The Northern Miner, first published in 1915, during the Cobalt Silver Rush, is considered Canada’s leading authority on the mining industry.

Northern Gold Mining (TSXV: NGM) is the fourth junior this year to sign a business combination agreement with Oban Mining Corp. (TSX: OBM), joining Eagle Hill, Ryan Gold and Corona Gold, which consolidated their properties in Ontario and Quebec under the Oban banner in September.

“We’d been looking at Northern Gold for a while,” says John Burzynski, Oban Mining’s president and chief executive officer. “It’s been in our area of interest for quite some time and is one of a number of acquisitions that we are looking at doing in the near future.”

Oban Mining’s goal is to consolidate areas in the historic mining camps of the Abitibi and then apply its exploration model to find gold and other metals, a strategy that Burzynski, Sean Roosen and Robert Wares used to great success after they founded Osisko Mining Corp.

Osisko went on to build the Canadian Malartic mine in Quebec, which was sold in 2014 to Agnico Eagle Mines (TSX: AEM; NYSE-MKT: AEM) and Yamana Gold (TSX: YRI; NYSE-MKT: AUY) in a cash and share deal worth $3.9 billion.

Taylor Mine is the newest mine in Ontario (Northern News – November 5, 2015)

November 6, 2015

http://www.northernnews.ca/

KIRKLAND LAKE – St Andrew Goldfields Taylor Mine project is now in commercial production and will increase the company’s gold production.

With the acceptance of the Taylor Mine closure plan the company has three gold producing mines in operation.

“We are pleased to declare Taylor the newest mine in Ontario, one which we anticipate will bolster the company’s gold production profile for 2016 by 40,000 – 50,000 ounces and provide much needed jobs and economic benefits to the communities in the region. I would personally like to thank the SAS team, the provincial government officials, the First Nations and our communities for their hard work and support in helping us bring Taylor into reality.

The mine is expected to be a significant contributor in the future as we are ramping up to full production by the end of this year,” said Duncan Middlemiss, President and Chief Executive Officer. “With the addition of Taylor to the portfolio of producing assets, we are also pleased to raise our 2015 full year production guidance to between 100,000 and 110,000 ounces of gold with the Taylor contributing 10,000 to 15,000 ounces of gold for the balance of 2015.

[Timmins] 2 local derelict mine sites among those cited in ECO report – by Alan S. Hale (Timmins Daily Press – November 5, 2015)

November 6, 2015

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Ontario’s environment watchdog has released a report slamming the provincial government and the mining industry for not putting in place adequate financial assurances to prevent the government from footing the bill for any clean-up after mining operations.

Such provisions are legally required in all mining project closure plans, but the Environment Commissioner of Ontario found that in July there were five idle operations in Ontario without sufficient financial assurance measures in their closure plans. Two of those projects listed in the report are in the Timmins area.

One is the Carshaw-Malga Mine and Mill property located in Shaw and Carman Townships, approximately 25 kilometres southeast of Timmins. The site, owned by Marshall Minerals Corp., was mined and milled gold-bearing ore in the mid-1980s. In 1990, the mill was reactivated to process nickel ore.

NEWS RELEASE: Eastmain Receives “Discovery of the Year” Award for Its Eau Claire Gold Deposit

October 9, 2015

TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwired – Oct. 8, 2015) – Eastmain Resources Inc. (“Eastmain”) (TSX:ER) is pleased to announce that it was awarded the “Discovery of the Year 2015” by the Association de L’Exploration Minière du Quebec (“AEMQ”) in a ceremony held last evening in Montreal, Quebec. This award recognizes the importance of Eastmain’s recent discoveries, which have significantly led to the expansion and delineation of its Eau Claire gold deposit and to new prospects discovered along the Eau Claire trend.

Each year the AEMQ recognizes and honours those entrepreneurs who make notable contributions to the development of Quebec’s mining exploration industry. The Discovery of the Year award is given to highlight the importance of a discovery that produced a significant ripple effect on exploration activities within a property and its surrounding area.

The Clearwater project, which hosts the Eau Claire gold deposit, is located in the James Bay region of the Province of Quebec, 350 kilometres north of Chibougamau and 15 kilometres east of Hydro Quebec’s EM-1 power installation. Eau Claire is the 2nd highest grade open pit undeveloped gold resource in North America, within a short list of development-track open pit projects containing more than 500,000 ounces of Measured and Indicated (“M&I”) resources at greater than 1.5 g/t.

Gold Grade is King at Kirkland Lake – by Lawrie Williams (Lawrieongold.com – October 8, 2015)

October 8, 2015

http://lawrieongold.com/

In general gold mining and exploration juniors have been having a horrendous three or four years since the gold price started its decline from its peak at the end of Q3 2011, but high grade, profitable operations like Kirkland Lake Gold (TSX: KGI) have tended to buck the overall trend – and here it is indeed the gold grade which is the key.

In short, Kirkland Lake gold is one of the highest grade operating gold mines in Canada – or indeed in the world. And it is being very successful in maintaining mill grade at very close to reserve grade – achieved by current management under George Ogilvie, former CEO of Rambler Metals and Mining, in not chasing tonnage, but rather putting the emphasis on grades to the mill.

It is thus running well under mill throughput capacity of over 2,000 tonnes a day, but generating excellent returns as a result – and leaves it with scope for expansion from existing operations, let alone from the excellent exploration potential across its land holdings. LawrieOnGold interviewed Ogilvie yesterday in London and these are the impressions gained.

Detour Gold finds silver lining in current economic climate – by Len Gillis (Timmins Daily Press – September 18, 2015)

September 18, 2015

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – The declining value of the Canadian dollar has actually been a great boost to Detour Gold and the mining supply sector in Timmins.

Those were among the revelations that came forward Thursday when Paul Martin, the president and chief executive officer of Detour spoke at a Timmins Chamber of Commerce lunch event.

Martin made reference to the fact the Canadian dollar, which was valued at 76 cents U.S. Thursday provided an unexpected benefit.

“The weak Canadian dollar, some people jokingly call it the Canadian peso, is a huge benefit for a company that sells its revenue in U.S. dollars,” Martin told the audience.

It has effectively dropped the price Detour has to pay to produce each ounce of gold. He said it this is a competitive edge for Detour that is not shared by U.S. gold producers, for example. The payoff for Northern Ontario and Timmins is significant, said Martin.

Mining For Gold Song- by Cowboy Junkies

September 5, 2015

Have a great Labour Day weekend everyone! – Stan Sudol (RepublicOfMining.com)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

The band was formed by three siblings from the Timmins entertainment family.
Another sibling, Cali, rose to fame as an actress on Ryan’s Hope. The Timmins
siblings are descendants of Noah Timmins, a mining prospector who founded
the Ontario [gold mining] city of Timmins. (Wiki)

Cowboy Junkies are a Canadian alternative country/blues/folk rock band. The group was formed in Toronto in 1985 by Margo Timmins (vocalist), Michael Timmins (songwriter, guitarist), Peter Timmins (drummer) and Alan Anton (bassist).[1]

The Junkies first performed publicly at the Beverley Tavern and other clubs in Toronto’s Queen Street West, including The Rivoli. Their 1986 debut album, produced by Canadian producer Peter Moore, was the blues-inspired Whites Off Earth Now!!, recorded using an ambisonic microphone in the family garage.[1]

[Timmins gold mining] 56 laid off as Primero’s open pit mined out – by Len Gillis (Timmins Daily Press – August 28, 2015)

August 28, 2015

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

BLACK RIVER-MATHESON – The gold mining industry in Northeastern Ontario took another hit this week.

Primero Mining Corporation announced Thursday that 56 workers have been laid off as a result of the closure of the open pit operation at the Black Fox mine, located about 10 kilometres east of Matheson. It was formerly the Brigus Gold property.

Primero’s Black Fox underground mine continues to operate, despite the layoffs in the pit, said mine general manager Dan Gagnon at a news conference in Timmins Thursday morning.

Gagnon, a veteran in mine management, was appointed as the new boss at Primero just three months ago. Gagnon made it clear the underground operation at Black Fox is continuing and provides jobs for roughly 310 employees.

It was this time last week that IAMGOLD revealed that 33 employees were to be laid off from the Côtė Lake gold project, located southwest of Gogama.

Lake Shore rocks the boat on Temex, Oban – by Kip Keen (Mineweb.com – July 17, 2015)

July 17, 2015

http://www.mineweb.com/

New offer upsets junior multi-merger.

It seems some Temex shareholders were near prescient in spurning Oban Mining. As noted in these pages, back in early June Oban Mining – a vehicle backed by some heavy hitters on the Canadian mining scene – made waves with a rather rare kind of offer: a merger with four other junior exploration companies with cash and/or exploration assets.

The deal involved arrangements with Eagle Hill Exploration, Temex Resources, Ryan Gold and Corona Gold. The former two have smallish, but high-grade gold resources, while the latter two mostly have cash.

In this, there was strong support in favour of the Oban proposition by Eagle Hill, Ryan Gold and Corona shareholders with lock-up share agreements covering 57%, 29% and 45% of their respective share counts.

But Temex was another case. As one analyst noted on a conference call around the time of the deal’s announcement last month, only 1% of Temex shareholders agreed to lockup in the Oban deal. Pitiful, really. Indeed, one disgruntled shareholder noted on that same call that the premium Temex would get in the deal (via shares in Oban) was less than the other juniors were getting.

BNN Reporter Andrew Bell Interviews Royal Nickel CEO Mark Selby About the Quebec Dumont Nickel Project (July 6, 2015)

July 6, 2015

http://www.bnn.ca/ Toronto-based Business News Network (BNN) is a Canadian cable television specialty channel. BNN airs business and financial programming and analysis. BNN reporter Andrew Bell hosts the Commodities program. From aluminum to zinc and everything in between, BNN highlights the hot world of commodities and the companies that produce them, including interviews with mineral and …

Iamgold’s troublesome mine – by Kip Keen (Mineweb.com – July 6, 2015)

July 6, 2015

http://www.mineweb.com/

The downward revision of production guidance at Westwood will dampen the share price.

Unstable ground conditions are proving to be a major hindrance for Iamgold at the Westwood gold mine, in the Doyon-Bousquet – LaRonde mining camp in Quebec.

Seismic issues – mostly mining-related – at underground mines in the region are nothing new and can require extensive monitoring and management.

But, after a couple sizeable rock bursts, Iamgold is now having to peddle back on projections and reconsider how much gold it can produce at the mine.

Back in January four Iamgold workers were stuck, briefly, underground after a rock fall blocked access. Then, in a similar incident in May, nine workers were again blocked by a rock fall.

Iamgold cuts gold production forecast after ‘seismic event’ at Quebec mine (CBC News Business – June 29, 2015)

June 30, 2015

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business

Rockfall in May that trapped 9 miners has company reassessing practices in area prone to tremors

Canadian miner Iamgold Corp. has cut its gold production forecast for the year, after a probe of what it calls a “localized seismic event” in a Quebec mine.

On May 26, the company halted production at its Westwood mine, one of its newest mines, after a rockfall that trapped nine miners for about 18 hours.

The Westwood mine, which is located near the Cadillac fault, experience two seismic events, with magnitudes of 1.2 and 1.7.

The Westwood event will “have a more significant impact on 2015 production than originally indicated,” Iamgold said a statement on Monday.

CEO Steve Letwin said mining companies working in the region ‘know that this district is prone to seismic activity and we are taking the necessary measures to keep our excellent safety record intact.”

Royal Nickel gets green light from Quebec for its Dumont mine (Canadian Press/CBC News Montreal – June 25, 2015)

June 26, 2015

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal

Mine in northwestern Quebec will initially produce 52,000 tonnes of ore per day

Royal Nickel is hoping to begin construction early next year on one of Canada’s largest base metal mines after receiving the green light Thursday from the Quebec government.

The Dumont project in Abitibi in northwestern Quebec is expected to cost an initial US$1.2 billion and produce 52,000 tonnes per day of ore that is a key ingredient of stainless steel.

The total project will cost US$3 billion over the mine’s 33-year life, including US$900 million that will double its output in five years and US$900 million in ongoing capital upgrades.

Chief executive Mark Selby said the mine will be one of the world’s largest nickel mines and will benefit the region’s economy. The concentrate will be exported primarily to Europe and Asia.