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Red Lake

The Red Lake resurgence: Miners and explorers seek ever more gold from this busy Ontario district – by Greg Klein (Resource Clips – September 16, 2019)

http://resourceclips.com/

A new gold producer on the way, attention-grabbing assays from a well-financed junior and high hopes for the price of gold—could that in any way explain the current excitement at Red Lake? A region that’s produced 30 million ounces since its first rush in 1926 still has more gold to mine and, explorers believe, more mines to find.

Just as Newmont Goldcorp TSX:NGT was considering the sale of its Red Lake operations, Pure Gold Mining TSXV:PGM began building Madsen Red Lake, billed as Canada’s highest-grade gold development project. But, as far as juniors are concerned, the district’s biggest newsmaker has been Great Bear Resources’ (TSXV:GBR) Dixie Lake property.

While focused on British Columbia’s Golden Triangle in 2017, Great Bear optioned Dixie from Newmont, also getting decades of data from over 160 historic holes. Given the succession of companies that drilled and departed, the data might have seemed more encumbrance than encouragement.

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Canada’s Pure Gold starts trading in London – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – May 20, 2019)

http://www.mining.com/

Canada’s Pure Gold Mining (TSX-V: PGM) has begun trading on the main market of the London Stock Exchange under the ticker PUR, in a move aimed at lifting the company’s international profile ahead of its transition to producer from developer.

The Vancouver-based miner, which is advancing a high-grade gold project in Ontario, believes a dual listing will give it access to a much broader pool of international capital, at a time when junior miners in Canada are having a hard time competing with the booming cannabis sector.

Interest in the emerging business, which spiked after Canada legalized the recreational use of cannabis in October, has been sucking investment capital away from the mining sector, and hitting juniors hardest, a recent study by BDO shows.

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December fire at Red Lake Mine raises red flags about lithium batteries – by Len Gillis (Northern Ontarion Business – May 13, 2019)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Underground blaze prompts call for new procedures to store, charge batteries for tools

Red flags have been raised about the possibility of lithium ion tool batteries catching fire in industrial settings, such as mines. Newmont Goldcorp’s Red Lake Gold Mines reported that an underground fire took place Dec. 6 when three workers went to get their tools on the 4400 level storage area.

“When the workers arrived, they smelled smoke,” said mine rescuer Loye Halteman at a recent safety conference in Sudbury.

One of the workers was sent back to a refuge station to notify security to “stench the mine,” thus releasing stench gas, a foul-smelling gas used to alert miners of impending danger.

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Pure Gold revives a past producer in the Red Lake camp – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – April 25, 2019)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Mine developer aiming for commercial production at Madsen Mine project in 2020

Six years ago, as board members at Pure Gold Mining were going through a checklist spelling out the ideal attributes of a potential exploration property, they quickly realized the past-producing Red Lake Madsen Mine had it all.

“We wanted to be in a good, stable jurisdiction, we wanted a project that was high-grade, and we wanted access to infrastructure,” said Darin Labrenz, president, CEO and director at Pure Gold. “So, something that we could not only explore, but ultimately build.”

In operation between 1938 and 1974, Madsen is the second largest producer in the Red Lake camp, consecutively producing 2.5 million ounces of gold over 36 years.

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IBM’s Watson takes a deep look at Red Lake: Goldcorp using artificial intelligence analytics to hunt for gold – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – November 26, 2018)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

IBM’s Watson supercomputer is being employed to help look for gold in northwestern Ontario’s Red Lake mining camp. Goldcorp and the U.S. tech giant have teamed up for an “innovative first” with a new product – IBM Exploration with Watson – that employs artificial intelligence to predict the potential for gold mineralization using exploration data sets from the company’s Red Lake Gold Mines.

A Nov. 26 Goldcorp news release said IBM Exploration with Watson help geologists find key information in a fraction of the time and cost of traditional methods through the use of spatial analytics, machine learning, and predictive models.

“The potential to radically accelerate exploration target identification combined with significantly improved hit rates on economic mineralization has the potential to drive a step-change in the pace of value growth in the industry,” said Todd White, Goldcorp’s executive vice-president and chief operating officer in a Nov. 26 statement.

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McEwen invests in explorer Great Bear – by Mariaan Web (MiningWeekly.com – August 27, 2018)

http://www.miningweekly.com/

Precious metals miner McEwen Mining and its chief owner Rob McEwen will invest a combined C$6-million in Ontario explorer Great Bear Resources, which last week announced a high-grade gold discovery in the Red Lake district.

Rob McEwen has agreed to purchase $4.8-million and McEwen Mining $1.2-million of the TSX-V-listed exploration company’s private placement financing to raise C$10-million. The private placement, announced on Friday, is priced at C$1.45 a unit.

On completion, the two entities will collectively own 18.8% of Great Bear, which Rob McEwen believes could be onto a “significant new gold discovery” in one of Canada’s premier mining camps.

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[Ontario Gold mining history] The Red Lake Marines – by Leslie Roberts (MACLEAN’S Magazine – November 15, 1937)

http://www.macleans.ca/

Freighting that ties up the air lanes with ice and water routes is a big job

BILL COOK, transportation executive at the Red Lake base, said, “If you’re all set, let’s get going.” The mechanic cast off from the dock. The pilot gunned the motor. The ship taxied out into clear water, nosed into the wind, raced over the choppy surface, stepped into the air.

Behind us the town of Red Lake faded toward the northern horizon a town of 900 people who live in virtually the same circumstances of creature comfort as may be found in Aurora or Orillia, excepting the absence of railroads or motor highways. Back in Red Lake, nattily uniformed waitresses were spreading white damask and spotless silver on the tables in the hotel dining room; guests were debating politics and the stock market in deep armchairs in the lobby.

Around the streets youngsters were wondering if this Infantry Paralelasis, or whatever it is, would mean longer holidays, the way it did in Toronto. Their mothers were plugging electric-iron cords into wall sockets, buying steaks down at the shops along the Main Street sidewalk, talking bridge, tennis, plans for the coming badminton season with their neighbors.

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Back to the drawing board: Rubicon outlines its Red Lake exploration program – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – January 10, 2017)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

New management at Rubicon Minerals promise a more thorough, responsible and transparent approach toward getting its shuttered Phoenix Gold Project back on track. The would-be Red Lake miner provided the details on its exploration plans over the next two years on Jan. 10.

“We have finalized the details of our 18- to 24-month exploration program that will advance our understanding of the F2 Gold Deposit at the Phoenix Gold Project,” said Rubicon president-CEO George Ogilvie in a news release.

Coming out of creditor protection and refinancing, Rubicon is out to restore investor confidence and attempt to shake off its reputation as one of Northern Ontario’s biggest mining blunders.

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Restructuring the shaft of shame: Rubicon Minerals aims to start anew in 2017 – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – December 20, 2016)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

An Ontario court has approved a restructuring plan to revive a shuttered gold mine development in northwestern Ontario.

Rubicon Minerals was granted a sanction order from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Dec. 8, to approve the Toronto-based mine developer’s refinancing and restructuring plan for its Phoenix Gold project near Red Lake. The company sought protection from its creditors on Oct. 20. Ernst & Young was appointed as the monitor.

A majority of the affected creditors had earlier voted to approve the plan on Dec. 2. Rubicon announced Dec. 20 that the restructuring process was complete and that the company has been notified by the TSX that its common shares will remain listed on the TSX under the symbol RMX. Rubicon shares will resume trading on Dec. 22.

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Abandoned mine tailings threaten Pickle Lake development – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – May 27, 2016)

http://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Pickle Lake Mayor Karl Hopf said his northwestern community is being “handcuffed” by a one-size-fits-all provincial policy that’s stonewalling future development. Drafting a new Official Plan for the township of 425 has stirred the pot on a four-decades-old environmental legacy issue that’s resulted in a standoff between the municipality and three provincial ministries.

Red flags have been raised from the presence of arsenic in old surface tailings from a mine that closed in the 1950s. It’s caused the province to curb any new development along a highway corridor that the municipality wants to set aside for business opportunities.

The township is now at loggerheads with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing in refusing to sign off on a new Official Plan until the province finally commits to remediating the site. “For 40 years, they keep saying it’s a health issue,” said Hopf. “Well, let’s fix it.”

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Rubicon Minerals Corp warns ‘significant doubt’ it can survive after breaching loan – by Peter Koven (Financial Post – March 23, 2016)

http://business.financialpost.com/

TORONTO — Rubicon Minerals Corp. is at risk of collapse after breaching a debt covenant and halting its high-profile Ontario gold project due to technical problems.

The junior miner announced Tuesday that there is “significant doubt” it can continue as a going concern because of its debt, and may have to seek creditor protection.

To stay onside with the terms of its loan facility, Toronto-based Rubicon needed to have its Phoenix mine up and running by now. That has not happened. Rubicon had to halt development work at the Red Lake-based project last year after getting underground and realizing that the geology was far more complex than it initially thought.

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Rubicon Minerals Corp shares plunge as miner slashes its gold resources by 88% – by Peter Koven (National Post – January 12, 2016)

http://business.financialpost.com/

Junior miner Rubicon Minerals Corp. has slashed its gold resources by an astounding 88 per cent, confirming the company will go down as one of the worst Canadian mining meltdowns in years.

The stock plunged 64 per cent on Monday, closing at 5 cents, as this news crushed any remaining investor confidence in the formerly high-flying company. Rubicon has hired financial advisors to try to salvage value for shareholders, but there is little confidence that they will succeed.

“We’re very disappointed, as management and the board, at what’s transpired,” interim chief executive Michael Winship said on a conference call.

Toronto-based Rubicon was one of the hottest junior mining stories of the past decade, but the company made fatal errors while developing its Phoenix gold project in Ontario’s Red Lake camp.

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What went wrong at Rubicon Minerals, one of the biggest junior mining meltdowns in years – by Peter Koven (National Post – December 1, 2015)

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

Even before its meltdown, investors watching Rubicon Minerals Corp. could see some troubling warning signs.

Everything seemed fine on the surface. The company said in April that it was on track for first gold production at its Phoenix project in Northern Ontario in mid-2015. And in June, it did indeed pour its first gold.

Yet at the same time, Toronto-based Rubicon was saying very little in what should be a busy period. Its second quarter financials, which were filed to SEDAR in August with a press release, showed the company spent tens of millions more than expected in the quarter, leading some analysts to wonder what was going on. Sources said they had trouble getting detailed answers from the company.

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AUDIO: Mine closure in Red Lake, Ont., surprises mining economist (CBC News Thunder Bay – Novemeber 5, 2015)

http://www.cbc.ca/

New strategy required for gold extraction, Lakehead postdoctural fellow says

The news of a temporary closure at the Rubicon Minerals mine in Red Lake, Ont., came unexpectedly to one mining economist at the Centre for Excellence in Sustainable Mining at Lakehead University.

The shutdown of the mine is leaving 330 workers without a job in the northern Ontario town with 5,000 residents.

In a paper highlighting key mining developments, Karl Skogstad said the Rubicon mine was one of the more promising projects in northern Ontario.

“That came as a bit of a surprise to me,” Skogstad said. “That was one of the two projects that we said, ‘this is going to open, you know, relatively on schedule, and it’s doing well.'”

The volatile price of gold is presenting challenges to companies such as Rubicon, he added.

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NEWS RELEASE: Underground Activities Temporarily Suspended at the Phoenix Gold Project; Rubicon to Enhance Its Geological Model and Develop an Implementation Plan

Rubicon Minerals First Gold Pour: June 2015 from Rubicon Minerals on Vimeo.

http://www.rubiconminerals.com/

TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwired – Nov. 3, 2015) – Rubicon Minerals Corporation (TSX:RMX)(NYSE MKT:RBY) (“Rubicon” or the “Company”) today announced it is moving to suspend underground activities at the Phoenix Gold Project (the “Project”) while it enhances its geological model of the F2 Gold Deposit and develops a project implementation plan.

“We believe in the potential of the Phoenix Gold Project,” said Michael Winship, interim President and Chief Executive Officer of Rubicon. “We have high-grade gold mineralization with extensive infrastructure, in one of the top producing gold camps in the world. Similar to other high-grade, narrow-vein, underground gold deposits, the geology can be quite challenging and requires additional analysis to be fully understood. During the trial stoping period, we have discovered that the F2 Gold Deposit is much more geologically complex compared to our understanding of it from historical drilling.”

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